We have tailored several of our service offerings to support the work of local charities.
In accordance with our pricing philosophy we offer a range of services to suit the varied budgets of our charity clients and we will work closely with you to develop the appropriate strategy in each case.
Supporting Philanthropy
Central to our Wills and Trust services, and in conjunction with our CSR policy, is the support of philanthropy through legacy donation. We work closely with local charities to help raise our clients’ awareness of the need for charitable legacy provision and the varied methods by which such provision can be achieved.
Legacy administration
This service is provided to our charity clients in conjunction with our Wills and Estate Administration services. Most charities are reliant upon the ongoing support of their patrons and a legacy left under a supporter’s Will can make a huge difference to the work of a charity. The continued lack of regulation in the estate administration industry, coupled with ever more complex challenges to Wills, mean that the need for good quality advice and support is greater than ever. Most large charities now employ full-time legacy officers and take on executor roles themselves, but we appreciate that this can be disproportionate for small and medium sized charities. We therefore offer a tiered range of options to support charities in securing the full value from legacies, promptly!
Training sessions
Many charities have found our training sessions to be of great assistance in the furtherance of their objects. We can provide staff training sessions to suit your time and budgetary constraints and we have limited pro-bono hours available each year. We are also happy to provide some sessions for the families who may attend your contact centres. Current popular subjects for charities are financial abuse, powers of attorney and the court of protection, the Mental Capacity Act and the Care Act.
Sponsored Will drives
We do not join with the larger national and regional “free Will” drives as we feel that this undermines the value of what is a very important document. We do however, in appropriate circumstances, assist our partner charities with Will drives and please do ask us for details as the benefit of legacy gifts can be significant in the long term.
Trust administration
This service is provided to our charity clients in conjunction with our Estate Administration and Trust Administration services. Many legacies for charities are contingent or subject to prior life interests. Effective management of those legacies is essential to protect the ultimate value of the gift for the charity. Sadly poor trust administration practice and a lack of awareness of the Trustee Act 2000 are common problems. We can assist you by encouraging best practice by external trustees and holding such trustees to account when they have allowed things to go wrong. Again we offer a tiered range of options to support charities in securing the full and prompt value from the trusts.