Gifts in Wills

Making a Will is the only way you can be sure your wishes will be followed after you die, as well as allowing you to provide for the people and causes you care about. If you don’t have a Will it can cause additional distress for your family and friends at an already difficult time.

We’re unable to provide any specific legal advice, so for guidance on your Will we recommend that you contact a solicitor. You can also write or update you Will for free through Christian Aid’s partners.

Make sure you keep your Will up to date. If there have been any changes in family circumstances, it’s worth reviewing your Will.

If you would like to add a gift to Christian Aid to your existing Will, this can usually be done quite cheaply and simply with a document called a codicil. Please contact your solicitor about the best way to add a codicil to your Will.

In England and Wales our registered charity number is 1105851, and our address is Christian Aid, PO Box 100, London, SE1 7RT.

In Scotland our registered charity number is SC039150, and our address is Christian Aid, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.

In Northern Ireland our registered charity number is NIC101631, and our address is Christian Aid, Linden House, Beechill Business Park, 96 Beechill Road, Belfast BT8 7QN.

Your solicitor will also need to know what type of gift you wish to leave – you can find this information in the next question.

• A specific gift is a possession or item such as jewellery, property or shares.
• A pecuniary gift is a financial donation of a fixed amount. However, because of inflation, these are liable to depreciate during the course of your lifetime. That’s why many of our supporters prefer to leave a residuary gift.
• A residuary gift is all or part of what’s left of your estate once your other wishes have been carried out.

Here is some sample wording for your solicitor:

Specific gift

I give to Christian Aid of [full address according to location you are writing your Will] Charity Registration Number: XXXXX [according to location you are writing your Will] [description of items] absolutely for its general purposes and I direct that the receipt of the Treasurer or other duly authorised officer shall be a sufficient discharge to my Executors.

Pecuniary gift

I give to Christian Aid of [full address according to location you are writing your Will] Charity Registration Number: XXXXX [according to location you are writing your Will] the sum of £...[amount in words] for its general purposes and I direct that the receipt of the Treasurer or other duly authorised officer shall be sufficient discharge to my Executors.

Residuary gift

I give to Christian Aid of [full address according to location you are writing your Will] Charity Registration Number: XXXXX [according to location you are writing your Will] [proportion of residue] for its general purposes and I direct that the receipt of the Treasurer or other duly authorised officer shall be sufficient discharge to my Executors.

Legacies fund just over 10% of everything we do. However large or small, your gift will be used to support our work fighting poverty and transforming lives.

Our supporters usually choose to leave a gift to our work in general, so we can use it wherever the need is greatest. However, if there’s a particular aspect of our work you’d like your gift to support, please contact us and we’ll be happy to discuss it with you.

In most cases, your gift to Christian Aid will be exempt from inheritance tax, so it can help to reduce the tax burden on your friends or family.

Your solicitor will explain how to make your Will as tax efficient as possible. They can also outline the rules that reduce the rate of inheritance tax for people who leave at least 10% of their estate to charity.

You don’t have to tell us anything. But if you’d like to, we’d love to hear from you.

Many of our supporters have been telling us what inspired them to include Christian Aid in their Wills – and these stories are, in turn, a real inspiration to us!

If you are the executor or solicitor acting in connection with the administration of an estate where Christian Aid is bequeathed a legacy, and you would like to contact us or make a payment, please email our Legacy Case Management team legacyadmin@christian-aid.org

Faith Will came about because of research that showed that more than two thirds of people who leave a gift in their will to Christian Aid also leave a gift to their local church or Quaker meeting. This makes great sense, our supporters care about their neighbours in their local communities and their global neighbours. This helped us to see that it made sense for churches and Christian Aid to come together to talk about the importance of gifts in wills. To date we have seven ecumenical partners (the Church of England, the Church of Scotland, the Quakers, the United Reformed Church, the Church in Wales, the Presbyterian Church of Wales and the Union of Welsh Independents).

Yes, absolutely, Faith Will is a way to ask people to consider the possibility of leaving a gift in their will to Christian Aid and to their local church or Quaker meeting. That works for any kind of church or meeting.  

It started with the statement that headlines in this campaign – ‘Your faith is powerful, so is your Will’. ‘Faith Will’ is a distillation of that phrase, but also helps to identify the act of writing a gift into our Wills as an expression of our faith as Christians.     

We want to help churches to start to have conversations about gifts in wills. We are know it isn’t always easy to broach the subject but we have resources that can help churches to start the conversation in a variety of ways whether you can spare five minutes or an hour – it could be showing a video, including an article in a church newsletter, having a Christian Aid speaker include some information about Faith Will in a talk about any aspect of our work, or even having a service that is focused on thinking about the kind of legacy we want to leave through our lives, and through gifts in our wills.   

You can order resources for a Faith Will moment in your church, or book a speaker at any time of year. If you need additional information just drop us a line at legacyteam@christian-aid.org and we’ll be happy to help.  

If you would like to update or amend an existing Will, this can usually be done quite cheaply and simply with a document called a codicil. Please contact your solicitor about the best way to add a codicil to your Will.  

As we are only asking people to consider leaving a gift in their Will, it will not matter whether the speakers have or have not taken action themselves – they are simply promoting this as an option, a good thing to do.   

 It depends how you choose to write or update your Will. You can make a simple Will for free either online, by phone or in person through Christian Aid’s website, and it can be achieved surprisingly quickly and easily nowadays.

There are a few different ways to do this, including in person, over the phone and online. You can find details on our Free Will service page. Also, some of our denominational Partners will have their own Will-writing services, so it might be good to check with them if you prefer.  If you choose to arrange your Will through your own solicitor or Will-writing service there is usually a fee, and this can vary according to where you live.  

Absolutely! With so much need in both our local and global communities, your local church and Christian Aid are so grateful for each and every gift in a Will, regardless of size. Continuing your support in this way is very special and every gift will help us tackle injustice and poverty at home and overseas, contributing to  world where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty. With a gift in your Will, we can make an even bigger difference.  

The best thing to do is to suggest they consult a solicitor, who can ensure their wishes are met. People may wish to use their own trusted solicitor or find one through the Law Society. You can call their general enquiries line on 020 7242 1222. 

It is easy to think this way. However, leaving a gift in our Will for a cause we love is actually a life-affirming and positive thing to do. It is an expression of our faith, and allows our values and passions to live on beyond our lifetimes and make a lasting difference to the future, both for our local neighbourhoods and further afield, for our global communities. It is a positive and transformational gift whatever stage of life we are at!   

It is indeed a private matter, but we are not asking people to disclose any personal information or tell us what they have decided to do.  We are simply asking for consideration of leaving a gift in their Will. However, we find that many people like to tell us about their pledge and share what inspired them to do so and we love to hear their stories!   

If we are concerned about how we would bring this up in church, church leaders sometimes address Christian giving and stewardship as part of  their teaching on discipleship matters  - this can be a good context in which to talk about it. There are other ways to address it, some of which you will find in our worship resources in the sermon notes section.   

If you'd like to learn more about including Christian Aid in your Will in complete confidence, we are here to help.​​​​​​​

Contact our Legacy team by email at legacyteam@christian-aid.org or call 020 7523 2493