It’s easy to include a gift in your Will

We really recommend asking a solicitor to write your Will. It doesn’t cost much, but it can save
an enormous amount of time and money for your family in the future. You can find a solicitor by
asking friends who they would recommend, or by looking in your local telephone directory.

Alternatively, we can let you know the details of solicitors near you. Simply call the Gifts in Wills
team on 0845 603 1477.

Before going to see a solicitor, it’s worth writing down what you own (your assets) and what you
owe (your liabilities). We’ve put together a handy checklist to help you make sure you take
everything into account.

Follow this link for a list that can help you. This will help you work out how much you have to leave
behind, and then you can make decisions on how to pass it on.

It goes without saying that you’ll want to think about your loved ones before anyone else. But
after taking care of your loved ones, you may want to leave a gift to your favourite charity. If so,
we do hope that you will consider Guide Dogs. Your gift will be completely free of inheritance
tax.

There are many ways you can leave a gift to a charity:

You can leave a percentage of your estate to Guide Dogs after all your wishes have been
carried out, which is called a Residuary gift.

You could leave a specific amount of money to Guide Dogs. This is called a Pecuniary gift.

You could even leave a particular item like an antique or jewellery to Guide Dogs, which is
called a Specific gift.

Finally, you can make a gift to someone that passes automatically to Guide Dogs if they die
before you. This is known as a Conditional gift.

If you’d like to leave a gift in your Will to Guide Dogs, it should be easy for your solicitor to
arrange it. We have drafted some wording below that you might find useful – why not print it off and
take it along with you when you see your solicitor?

If you’d like to give a percentage of what you leave behind to Guide Dogs (this is called a
Residuary gift):

"I give free of inheritance tax the residue of my estate to The Guide Dogs for the Blind
Association whose Registered Office is situated at Hillfields, Burghfield Common, Reading,
Berkshire RG7 3YG, Registered Charity No. 209617 for the general charitable purposes of the
Association, and I declare that the receipt of the Honorary Treasurer or other authorised official
for the time being shall be a good discharge to my Executors."

If you’d like to give a certain amount of money to Guide Dogs (this is called a Pecuniary gift):

"I give free of inheritance tax to The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association whose Registered
Office is situated at Hillfields, Burghfield Common, Reading, Berkshire RG7 3YG, Registered
Charity No. 209617: the sum of ….. (in words) pounds, £00000 … (figures) for the general
charitable purposes of the Association, and I declare that the receipt of the Honorary Treasurer
or other authorised official for the time being shall be a good discharge to my Executors."

Your executors are the people who make sure your wishes are carried out. Most people choose
one or two executors – such as a solicitor, a family member or a close friend. It’s a good idea to
make sure that one of your executors is a generation younger than you.

Here at Guide Dogs we could act as an executor for you. We can help make sure your estate is
looked after properly, and keep the costs down too. If you’d like to know more, please call Joette
Emerton on 0118 983 8385.

You’ll also need to sign your Will in front of witnesses. Just to let you know, anyone who is going
to benefit from your Will cannot be a witness.

Keep your Will safe

Make sure you keep your Will in a safe place, and let your family or executors know where to
find it. It’s important to keep it up to date too. For example, if there is an important event like a
birth or a death in the family, or if an executor dies or moves abroad, you will need to update it.