War, poverty, homelessness, animal cruelty – your social media feed can make it feel like the world is on fire. Donating can help, but it’s hard when money is tight.
Planning a gift in your will could be a solution. It can feel like a constructive action but it takes the financial pressure off now. Many charities offer a free will-writing service in return for a possible donation – but how does it work, and can I trust that my will will be above board?
There’s no time like tomorrow when it comes to charitable giving – two in five of us are looking to increase the amount we give in the future, according to Charities Regulator research published this month. And one in four people intend to leave money or property to a charity in their will, according to the research.
“Helping those worse off” and feeling that “something should be given to worthy causes” are the reasons most cited for giving.
Being unable to afford a donation and lack of trust are the two top reasons why people do not donate at the moment, according to the research.
If you can’t afford it now, planning to give in your will is an option. It can appease any guilt in the interim too. And if this seems like an older person thing, think again. Buying a house, having a child and getting married are all important triggers for making a will. For socially minded Gen Xs, Millennials and Gen Zs, a bequest can make sure something goes to a cause you love.
More than €79.6 million was left in bequests to charities in 2022, according to the Charities Regulator. But
However, more than two-thirds of all charities say they received less than €100,000 in bequests in 2022, with one in four charities reporting less than €5,000.
Sixteen charities, or 4 per cent, reported bequest income in excess of €1 million, with two charities reporting more than €5 million. The largest total amount reported by an individual charity was €8,672,000.
Free wills
Some charities are clear: if you are considering leaving a legacy, talk to your own solicitor.
Mylegacy.ie, itself a registered charity, is an umbrella group of 90 Irish charities working to make gifts in wills the norm in Ireland. Its website provides solicitors and individuals with useful advice, and even wording, on how to leave a bequest. It directs those wanting to do so to the Law Society of Ireland’s register of solicitors.
Other charities will cover the cost for one of their partner solicitors to write or update a simple will for you at no cost. The hope is that by availing of the free will, you will donate.
Some charities partner with “will-writing experts” who will provide those interested in giving with information and templates to draft their own will.
These will-writing experts are often clear that the service is only suitable for what they term “simple” wills, and that they don’t offer bespoke advice, including tax advice.
If the will-writing expert is not a solicitor, they are not regulated or held to the same professional standards as a registered solicitor.
Freewill.ie is a private company that works with 18 partner charities and an online will-writing service called Lastwill.ie, which provides templates for individuals to write their own will for free.
Those wanting to donate to one of the partner charities are sent a voucher by the charity that enables them to make their free will online. The individual is getting a free online will and the charity is covering the cost of it. To have a solicitor review your draft costs €80, says Freewill.ie.
“We make it clear that using Freewill.ie, you are not obliged to include the charity in your will, but the hope is you will,” says Niall O’Sullivan of Freewill.ie.
This voucher system means the charity will know the person has made a will, but only on the person’s death will they know if there has been a bequest, says O’Sullivan.
“If there is complexity to your situation, we recommend you go to a solicitor,” says O’Sullivan. “But for most people, it’s pretty straightforward in terms of their assets and the decisions they have to make.”
Gifts given in wills tend to be larger, says O’Sullivan. “When people come to write their wills, they actually realise they have more capacity to give than they might have thought.”
The largest gift made to a charity to date using Freewill.ie was €100,000, says O’Sullivan.
Effective giving
Making a will can ensure more of your money goes to the people or causes dear to you.
If you die without a will, the Succession Act kicks in. This means if you’re married and don’t have a will, your spouse gets the whole estate where there are no children. If you have children, your spouse gets two-thirds, with any children sharing the remaining third.
The amount of money parents can give their child tax-free, during the parents’ lifetime or on death is €400,000. Anything above that is taxed at 33 per cent.
So, if you leave €500,000 to your child, your child will receive €466,000 of it and they will have to pay the remaining €33,000 in tax. Leave €100,000 to a registered charity and the charity will get all of it tax-free.
[ My husband says it’s pointless for him to make a will. Is he right?Opens in new window ]
It’s different if you are single with no children. Unless you plan ahead, far more of the wealth you accumulated over a lifetime is likely to go back to the State in tax than that of someone with a child.
The most a person without a child can leave to someone tax-free is €40,000. The recipient must be in the Group B threshold covering close blood relatives: that means a sibling, a parent, a grandparent, a niece or a nephew. For a friend or cousin, the most they can receive tax-free is just €20,000.
A bequest can provide single people with no children more autonomy and choice over what happens to their money. Legacies left to charities are tax-free once the charity is registered, so 100 per cent of any gift you leave will go directly to the charity.
A person can either leave a percentage share of their estate, once other duties and expenses are settled, or give a specific sum.
Making a will provides a roadmap of what you want to happen to your estate. Without a will, or where the will is unclear, there can be confusion and disputes.
Sonya Lanigan at John Lanigan & Nolan Solicitors in Kilkenny urges caution when it comes to using online will services.
Family structures can be complex these days. Parents and children who are cohabiting, separated or divorced are now part of the mix of many families, as are stepchildren. Where a family member is informally but not legally separated, they remain legally married. This can leave the door open for claims and grievances down the line.
“I think it’s a very dangerous assumption that you will be ticking off and considering all of the provisions of the various acts, like the Succession Act or the Civil Partnership Act, and all the tax advice that goes with getting your will made [with an online will service]. I’d be very nervous about that,” says Lanigan.
A solicitor’s job is to advise you based on your instructions. There should be no pressure at all to give to charity, says Lanigan.
It’s good practice when making a will to tell your executors you have appointed them, and where your will is, says Lanigan. You don’t have to give them copies.
[ Who should I appoint as an executor in my will?Opens in new window ]
If you are giving a generous bequest to a charity, one that might raise eyebrows among family, it’s best to record your feelings about why you do it in your will. “It can be helpful to those coming after you to understand why. That can put paid to any action that might be taken,” says Lanigan.
Her experience is that people are not giving as much to charity as they used to. The church was once a common beneficiary but this is happening less, she says.
“I would have always observed particularly single people would have considered charities when the bulk of their estate was going to siblings, or nieces and nephews, but I do notice a bit of a decrease in that as well.”
Check the register
There are plenty of good causes out there, but not all are registered charities. A registered charity must submit an annual report to the Charities Regulator. This shows who the charity has helped over the past year, and how it has raised and spent funds. You can search on the regulator’s website to confirm any particular charity is registered and then see their annual reports by clicking on that charity.
When leaving a bequest, be sure to use the charity’s registered name, charity number and address to avoid confusion, says Lanigan. It’s also advisable to state that the gift is exclusively for charitable purposes, says a spokesman for the regulator.
Charities sometimes change their name, merge or cease operating. That’s why it’s important to be clear in your will about the type of charity or charitable purposes you want to help, says the regulator. This will help make identifying an alternative charity easier, they say.
A person can seek to ensure their executors have binding instructions to select another registered charity in the event that the original charity no longer exists.
If your charity no longer exists, and you don’t identify an alternative in your will, the Charities Regulator has statutory power to apply a “cy-pres doctrine” to bequests. This means your gift will go to a charity as near as possible to your intentions.
