How gifts help Chelmsford Mencap
Gifts kindly left to Chelmsford Mencap in wills and trusts have been crucial to the significant progress that Chelmsford Mencap has made over the years – but our work is far from complete. Every week 200 babies are born in the UK with a learning disability.
When you are making your will or setting up a trust, your first concern will naturally be for your own family and friends. Please also consider leaving a gift to Chelmsford Mencap, no matter how small.
Although we don’t know what the future holds, at Chelmsford Mencap we know that we have to continue supporting people with a learning disability to live their lives the way that they want, and carry on campaigning for change and understanding. We hope that you will help us achieve our vision.
- you can help people with a learning disability become more independent.
- you can help to give families the support they need.
- you can help to give children with a learning disability the opportunities they need to develop their abilities.
- you can help us to support adults with a learning disability to lead active, fulfilling lives. You can make a difference.
The types of gifts you can leave
By leaving money in your will to Chelmsford Mencap, or naming us as one of the beneficiaries of a trust you set up, you can help shape the future of people with a learning disability and their families and carers.
There are four ways you can leave a gift to Chelmsford Mencap:
1. Leaving your residue to Chelmsford Mencap
Once you have provided for your family and friends with specific gifts of money or items, Chelmsford Mencap receives all or part of the residue of your estate. This is what is left when all the specific legacies and other liabilities have been paid. If you would like to leave your residuary estate to Chelmsford Mencap, we suggest that you include the following wording in your will:
| “I give all [or a …..% share] of the residue of my estate to Chelmsford Mencap (Chelmsford Mencap registered charity number 245421), Chelmsford Mencap, PO Box 10476, Chelmsford, CM1 9NE, for its general charitable purposes and I direct that the receipt of the treasurer or duly authorised officer shall be a valid and appropriate form of discharge.” |
2. Naming Chelmsford Mencap as a beneficiary of your trust
If you are thinking of setting up a discretionary trust in your will for the benefit of a family member with a learning disability while they are alive, you may decide that any sum of money left in the trust after their death will go to Chelmsford Mencap.
When including Chelmsford Mencap as a beneficiary in a trust that you set up, please remember to use our full name and address:
Chelmsford Mencap
PO Box 10476, Chelmsford, CM1 9NE
Registered charity number: 245421
3. Leaving a sum of money to Chelmsford Mencap
If you wish to leave us a sum of money in your will, we suggest that you include the following wording:
| “I give to Chelmsford Mencap (Chelmsford Mencap registered charity number 245421), Chelmsford Mencap, PO Box 10476, Chelmsford, CM1 9NE, the sum of … [amount in figures and words] to be used for its general charitable purposes and I direct that the receipt of the treasurer or duly authorised officer shall be a valid and appropriate form of discharge.” |
4. Leaving a specific item to Chelmsford Mencap
If you wish to leave us a specific valuable object in your will, for example a piece of antique furniture, art, jewellery or a property, we suggest that you include the following wording:
| “I give to Chelmsford Mencap (Chelmsford Mencap registered charity number 245421), Chelmsford Mencap, PO Box 10476, Chelmsford, CM1 9NE, my ………. [insert full description of item] [OR any ……. [insert description of type of item] belonging to me at the date of my death] and I direct that the receipt of the treasurer or duly authorised officer shall be a valid and appropriate form of discharge.” |
Remember: All gifts to Chelmsford Mencap are free of inheritance tax!
If your total estate (e.g. your house and contents, car, investments and savings) is worth more than the inheritance tax threshold (which increases every year), you may choose to give whatever is left to charity in order to minimise the inheritance tax paid on your death.
If you have already made your will but want to leave a gift to Chelmsford Mencap, all you have to do is make a codicil to your will. This is an additional document to your will which makes minor amendments to your will – such as including a gift to Chelmsford Mencap. You should never make any amendments to the original will document – either make a codicil or make a new will.