A gift in your will

Your last great gift in your Will

...and if he hath not before disposed of his goods, let him be admonished to make his Will

Book of Common Prayer

A Will is a legal document that says how you want your money and possessions to be distributed when you die. Anyone over 18 should consider making a Will because if you die without making a Will the law decides who gets what. As a result, those closest to you may not get what you intended them to have, and people who you had no intention of leaving money to may benefit.

You can also use your Will to ensure that if you have children they will be properly looked after, and express your wishes with regard to funeral arrangements.

Making a Will can greatly reduce distress and anxiety for your family and friends when you die.

Your last and greatest gift

Making a Will is also an opportunity to ensure that causes that you have supported during your lifetime, such as Cord, will benefit. Often you may be able to give more to charity on your death than you were during your life, as the money tied up in property and possessions that you no longer need is released. A gift in your Will, to a registered charity is also free of tax, making it a very effective way to give.

Cord supporters Paul and Margaret White explain...

We have supported Cord for many years and having benefited from the Wills of others ourselves, it made sense to us to use it as a last chance to give to Cord. After all, when we die you will no longer be getting our regular donations so your income will go down! So when we amended our Wills we included Cord. Of course its also tax free, which is another incentive.

Leaving a gift in your Will to Cord help's to give future generations the opportunity to live a new life after conflict. While we would all like to see a future free of war and conflict, we know from experience that Cord's work of waging peace, and your support for that work, will still be needed in years to come. We urge all those who share our vision of peace-building to consider leaving a gift to Cord in their Will.

What next?

There are different ways of including a gift to Cord in your Will. There is more information in "Your legacy, her future" - a booklet put together by Cord which explains everything you need to know. To request a copy click here.

Cord recommends that you get professional help from a solicitor when writing your Will. If you have already made a Will, and would like to include a gift to Cord, it is easy to amend an existing Will, or add an extra instruction by codicil - again we recommend that you check with your solicitor to make sure that any changes you make so not conflict with your existing instructions.

Letting Cord know

If you have left a gift in your Will to Cord, or if you plan to, we would be very grateful if you could let us know. Any pledge you make is non-binding and confidential; it simply tells us what your current intentions are and enables us to keep you up to date with Cord's plans for the future.