Leaving us a gift in your Will
Your
vital donations help us continue our pioneering work.
Any amount, no matter how small, makes a difference. Gifts left
to us in Wills account for nearly half our entire
income.
Since we were founded in 1961, legacies have helped us invest
£1bn into funding ground-breaking research, providing vital health
information and supporting those affected by heart disease. What
future discoveries could be made because of you?
Contact us
For more information about leaving a gift in your Will, or to
let us know that you have remembered us in your Will, please
contact Elinor Gordon on 0300 330 3322 or
email legacies@bhf.org.uk
If you have any questions about paying a legacy to us
following someone’s death, please see our information
for executors - or contact our Legacies Management team on
020 7554 0065 for assistance.
Thinking of leaving a gift in your Will?
We understand that your loved ones are likely to come first, but
just a little of what's left over could help us create a better
future, and allow those affected by heart disease to live with
hope. By leaving a proportion of your estate to us your loved
ones can be provided for as well as the cause you care about.
Types of gift
These are the 3 main types of gift you could leave in your Will.
For other options please see 'other types of legacy' at the
end of the suggested
wording for your Will:
This is a share – or possibly even all - of the balance of your
estate once all other payments have been made (e.g. lifetime debts,
tax, administrative expenses and any pecuniary and specific
legacies). It will not lose its value over time, and if you leave a
proportion to us you can still ensure other beneficiaries are taken
care of.
You may prefer to leave us a
fixed amount of money. It is worth noting that the effects of
inflation could mean that the true value of this gift could become
less than you intended, unless you review your Will regularly, or
you link it with inflation. If you are considering a cash gift,
please do consider inflation proofing the legacy. See
suggested
wording for your Will for an example of an index-linked
pecuniary legacy.
This would be a gift of
a specific item – such as personal possessions, land, buildings or
shares.
How to leave a gift in your Will
We all know that it's important to make a Will, to ensure your
assets go to those you wish and to avoid heartache for those
you leave behind. Making a Will can be daunting and easy to put off
but it's actually a straightforward process, and isn't as expensive
as you think, especially if your requirements are fairly
simple.
- Free will service
We offer our supporters
the chance to make or update their Will with a
local solicitor free of charge. The offer is not
based on leaving a gift to the BHF, but we would, of course, be
extremely grateful. Please email legacies@bhf.org.uk for more
information.
- Help with writing your will
From suggested
wording to jargon
busting we have a series of
useful guides to help you understand the process of writing
your will.
- Finding a solicitor
A homemade Will can be problematic, or even invalid, if the
correct formalities aren't carried out, or if things are unclear.
We always recommend you contact
a solicitor or a member of the Institute of Professional Will
Writers.
How we will use your donation
Gifts left in Wills help in any number of ways. Past individual
gifts have been used to fund three heart failure nurses, who
together can see 2,000 patients a year, and to provide
defibrillators across the UK, giving the nation greater access to
these life-saving machines.
Here are some of the ways that a gift in your Will could
help:
- £500 could fund four resuscitation training Little Anne
mannikins
These realistic adult mannikins are used when training people in
performing lifesaving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
Performing CPR buys time and more than doubles the chances of
survival for someone in cardiac arrest.
- £10,000 could pay for 10 portable defibrillators around
the UK
A defibrillator is a machine that can save a life by giving an
electrical shock to the heart in many cases of cardiac arrest.
For every minute that passes before defibrillation, chances of
survival decrease by around 10%. Having fast access to this
lifesaving equipment in public places is vital.
- £55,000 could help diagnose heart
disease
This amount could cover the cost of a portable ultrasound machine
suitable for echo imaging of the heart, and ensure that heart
patients receive effective diagnosis and treatment of heart
disease.
- £100,000 could fund a research project for anything up
to a year or more
We currently fund over 1,000 research grants investigating every
aspect of heart disease – from understanding the causes and
improving diagnosis, to developing better medicines and improving
surgical techniques.
Remember a Charity
We're part of the Remember a Charity
consortium - over 150 charities working together to encourage more
people to leave a gift to charities in their Will, after they've
looked after their family and friends.
Remember a Charity is currently working with the Cabinet Office
on The Giving White Paper - One year on, which says that
the Government's objective is to make the UK a country where it is
the social norm for people to give a small portion of their Will to
charity.
