Your Legacy to the Natural World

Remembering us in your Will

Do you remember the first time you walked through our doors, came face-to-face with a dinosaur or stood beneath Hope our blue whale? Perhaps that first visit inspired a love of the natural world or convinced you that we need to protect the planet we call home and the living things we share it with.

Today our mission has never been more urgent. Through our unique combination of public programming and scientific research, we can inspire the next generation of advocates for the planet. By supporting us through a gift in your Will, you’ll be directly aiding this mission.

What are the different types of legacy gifts?

There are several ways to leave a gift to us in your Will, including:

• A Residuary Gift, which is the remainder, or a percentage of the remainder, of your estate after all other gifts to family and friends have been distributed. Even a small percentage of the residue could be of enormous benefit to the natural world.
  
• A Pecuniary Gift, which is a specified sum of money. To ensure that it keeps its value over the years, you can ask your solicitor to include an instruction that it is index-linked.
  
• A Restricted Gift, which can be either a Residuary or Pecuniary Gift where you intend the money to be used to support a particular area of our activities.
  
• A Specific Gift, which is an object that is part of the estate. It might constitute a collection of specimens, manuscripts, drawings or other valuables. If you’re kindly considering this form of gift, contact us so that we can ensure it’s in line with our collections policy and that we can conserve and store the item or items properly.

How could Inheritance Tax affect my gift?

The Museum is an exempt charity, so bequests - whether they’re residuary, pecuniary or specific - will not be subject to Inheritance Tax in the UK. By remembering us in your Will you might also be able to reduce the taxable value of your assets.

Inheritance Tax is a tax on the estate, including the property, money and possessions, of someone who has died. There’s normally no Inheritance Tax to pay if either:

• the value of your estate is below the £325,000 threshold if you’re single or £650,000 if you’re a married couple or civil partners
  
• you leave everything to an exempt beneficiary such as a charity
  

In April 2012, the government introduced a change to Inheritance Tax legislation meaning that in some situations people leaving 10% or more of their taxable estate to charity qualify for a reduced rate of Inheritance Tax from 40% to 36%. If you think that your estate is going to be subject to Inheritance Tax, please discuss this with your solicitor.

I have already written my Will but would like to add a gift to the Museum. What should I do?

If you’ve already written your Will, we suggest filling out a Codicil form to discuss with your accountant, solicitor or financial advisor.

Many of the gifts we receive are left for unspecified use, allowing monies to be allocated to projects where the need is greatest. If you’re interested in supporting a particular area of our work, contact our Legacy Team for further information.