Gifts in Wills

When you make your Will, it is important to make sure your loved ones are provided for. Then, you can choose to leave a donation to a good cause.

Your lasting legacy could be be a better future for human health and for the animals currently used in laboratories.

Jump to: Types of gifts How to leave a gift Changing your Will Will-writing services

Why leave a legacy?

Support humane medical research

No matter how big or small your estate, your gift brings us closer to a world where animals do not suffer for science. At The Humane Research Trust, we are grateful to our legacy donors. Their generosity helps us fund cutting-edge research to advance human health and save the lives of animals.

Reduce your tax burden

If you are considering donating to charity in your Will, it is important to note that these donations are exempt from inheritance tax. Additionally, if you donate more than 10% of your estate to charity in your Will, your rate of inheritance tax due on the remainder will decrease from 40% to 36%.

Types of charitable gifts in Wills

There are two main ways that you can leave money to charity in your Will. You can either leave a share of your estate or a set amount of money.

Leaving a share of your estate

Leaving a set amount

If you decide to donate a share of your estate to charity, this is called a ‘residuary gift.’

When you leave a residuary gift to the Trust, we receive the given percentage of what is left of your estate after your loved ones and financial commitments are provided for.

Suggested wording for a residuary gift in your Will

"I give the whole of the residue of my estate (or I give __% of the residue of my estate) to The Humane Research Trust CIO, a charity (Registered Charity No. 1203103) of registered office address Brook House, 29 Bramhall Lane South, Stockport, SK7 2DN, to be applied for its general charitable purposes and I declare that the receipt of the charity’s authorised person or other appropriate officer shall be a complete discharge to my executors."

If you decide to donate a fixed amount of money to charity in your Will, this is called a ‘pecuniary gift.’

When you leave a pecuniary gift to The Humane Research Trust, we will receive the exact cash amount you chose to donate. This amount may lose value over time due to inflation, so it worth reviewing this periodically.

Suggested wording for a pecuniary gift in your Will

"I give the sum of ____ pounds to The Humane Research Trust CIO, a charity (Registered Charity No. 1203103) of registered office address Brook House, 29 Bramhall Lane South, Stockport, SK7 2DN, to be applied for its general charitable purposes and I declare that the receipt of the charity’s authorised person or other appropriate officer shall be a complete discharge to my executors."

How to leave a charitable gift in your Will

1. Choose the type of gift

You can choose to gift a monetary amount, a percentage share of your estate, or a different arrangement, such as a specific asset.

2. Name us as a beneficiary

Make sure to include our full name and charity registration number in your Will: The Humane Research Trust CIO. Registered Charity No. 1203103.

3. Work with a Will-writer

We recommend you work with a solicitor or a professional Will-writing service to develop your Will. Consider a fixed-fee service, to prevent your executors being faced with ongoing fees that can diminish the value of your estate. Check out our partner organisations for free and discounted Will-writing services.

4. Keep your Will safe

Once you have your Will, keep it in a safe but easily accessible place. Solicitors and Will-writers can store your Will for you for a fee. Alternatively, you can store it with the Probate Service (England and Wales) or the Probate Office (Northern Ireland). We recommend you tell your executors where you are storing the Will.

Pledge a gift in your Will today

If you have left us a charitable gift in your Will, we want to know! We’d love to keep you informed of our work and to thank you for your generous commitment.

Complete our pledge form

Support innovative new research

Donations in Wills help us plan future research projects so we can help as many people and save as many animals as possible. Learn more about the research your gift could support.

How your gift helps

How to change your Will to add a donation

If you want to add a charity donation into an existing Will, you can use something called a Codicil. This is a short document you can use to make a small change to your Will (like adding a gift) without having to rewrite the whole document. You will need to sign your Codicil, with witnesses present, and store it alongside your Will. You can download our Codicil form for free.

If your proposed changes are more complicated than a simple addition, a Codicil may not be suitable. In some cases, you may need to rewrite your Will. Speak to a solicitor for advice on this.

Free and discounted Will-writing services

We are proud to work with trusted partner organisations to offer a range of free or discounted Will-writing services to suit your needs.

FreeWills.co.uk

We have partnered with FreeWills.co.uk, an online service where you can develop your own free, legally binding Will in just a few minutes.

Each Will is checked, vetted, and approved by a solicitor. You can even come back and update your Will later, free of charge.

Claim your free Will

Remember a Charity

We are a member of Remember a Charity, who provide plenty of free resources to help you write your Will.

Our membership grants you 20% off Will-writing services from Co-op Legal Services. You can also use their website to find a local solicitor.

Visit the Remember a Charity website

A donation of any size helps us replace animals in medical research.

If you want to leave a lasting gift, consider adding a donation to The Humane Research Trust into your Will. With your help, we will continue supporting scientists to improve human health, without animal experimentation.

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