The Legacy Programme - This very tax efficient way of giving money to the school is open to everybody. Any bequest is exempt from either Inheritance or Capital Gains tax. You may pledge either a fixed sum or a fixed percentage of your will. A brochure on legacy giving is available from the Foundation office. Please ask for one.

The Governors and the Foundation wish to recognise and thank all who have made bequests. The 1541 Club includes all who have made legacies and they will be invited to an annual dinner as guests of the Governors and the Foundation. Members will be kept informed of the Foundation’s progress and intentions.

The Christ College Foundation has enlisted the help of Leo, Abse and Cohen Solicitors (www.leoabse.com) whose article below appears in a recent Foundation Newsletter

Clare Johnson of Leo Abse & Cohen

Supporting the Christ College Legacy Programme can enrich you in more ways than one! by Claire Johnson, Head of Wills & Estates at Leo Abse & Cohen.

At Leo Abse & Cohen our team of specialist wills and estates solicitors have been working with Christ College with a view to boosting the Legacy Programme towards its target. We know that parents, friends and alumni of the College often feel passionately about what the school has to offer and would think very positively about remembering the school on making a Will. However, experience and indeed statistics tell us that as much as 75% of the population have not yet got around to the task of putting a Will in place and significantly more will not have reviewed an existing Will for many years.

 Making or reviewing your Will is vital to ensure that your estate is distributed in accordance with your wishes and intentions. The laws of intestacy which apply where someone dies without a Will do not guarantee everything will pass to your ‘next of kin’ as many mistakenly believe.

For example, even in a typical family scenario of spouse and children only the first £125,000 of assets in the sole name of the deceased will pass outright to the survivor, the balance will be tied up in inflexible trust arrangements. Moreover, without an appropriate Will you may well be volunteering to pay Inheritance Tax.

“ ….preparing a will can save thousands of pounds”

More people than ever before are caught in the Inheritance Tax net particularly in view of the huge uplift in property values in recent years. Preparing a Will can save thousands of pounds for the benefit of your loved ones and can be an opportunity to earmark for Christ College and any other charities you may wish to support, monies that would otherwise pass to the tax man.

In particular, married couples and those registered as civil partners can significantly reduce, if not eliminate inheritance tax payable on the survivor’s death through appropriate Will planning. The lost opportunity usually occurs when married couples or Civil Partners either fail to make Wills at all or each make ‘mirror’ wills leaving everything to the survivor in the first instance and then to the children or other family members. There should be no inheritance tax to pay on the first death because of the spouse/civil partner exemption. But there is a tax headache in store on the death of the survivor.

At that point, the couple’s combined wealth will be subject to inheritance tax, with only the survivor’s nil rate band taken into account. The excess is taxed at 40 per cent. The nil rate band of the first of the couple to die has simply been wasted.

“ with careful planning….the potential tax saving is as much as £114,000”

In contrast, wills including nil-rate band discretionary trusts can ensure that both of the couple’s respective nil rate bands are fully utilised doubling the amount that can be passed Inheritance Tax free (to £570,000 at current rates). In a nutshell, such will trusts can allow each spouse or civil partner to gift a sum up to the nil-rate tax band to a discretionary trust which comes into effect on the first death.

With careful planning, the survivor can continue to have full benefit and enjoyment of all assets including the deceased spouse or civil partner’s share due to the trust without that share being lumped in with his or her own estate for Inheritance Tax purposes. The potential tax saving here is as much as £114,000 per couple.

For those who have recently lost a spouse or civil partner it is important to bear in mind that it may be possible to rearrange the estate tax efficiently for up to two years after death, again with a potential six figure tax saving at stake.

“the amount due to the tax man can be drastically reduced…”

For others, who are not married or in a civil partnership, including charitable beneficiaries in the Will can be an excellent way of reducing the amount which would otherwise be taken by the taxman in Inheritance Tax. For example, a single individual with assets of £385,000 might decide to leave everything equally between 8 nephews and nieces.

After taking into account his nil rate band of £285,000, there is 40% Inheritance Tax to pay on the remainder, a tax bill of £40,000. Each nephew or niece will receive just over £40,000 after Inheritance Tax, funeral and other expenses are taken into account. If instead, the same individual made a Will leaving a very generous £50,000 to his chosen charity and the balance to his nephews and nieces, they will receive only a little less than in the previous scenario (at a little under £40,000 for each niece or nephew). The amount due to the taxman will have been drastically reduced to £20,000 and the charity will be £50,000 better off!

Claire Johnson - Head of Wills & Estates at Leo Abse & Cohen.

Support the legacy programme and benefit from a discount from Leo Abse & Cohen.

Making a Will and taking the appropriate expert advice to ensure it best meets your needs and circumstances is one of the most important things you can do and every adult should have an up to date will in place regardless of age. At Leo Abse and Cohen we have specialist Wills and Estates solicitors in each of our three offices across South Wales. In association with the Christ College Legacy Fund we are offering a free consultation to Old Breconians, parents and friends of the school. For those who go on to make a new will through us, we will give a 10% discount against our usual fees as well as donating a sum to the school on your behalf for every will made.

For further information or to arrange a free consultation please call Claire Johnson on 029 2027 2149 .

Planned Regular Giving - Your commitment to supporting Christ College can be demonstrated by a regular programme of giving. It simply means donating a sum you can comfortably afford monthly, quarterly or even annually. This will enable you to take part in ensuring a successful future for Christ College. Participation is as important as the amount given. The amount can always be increased when you feel able to afford more. A little and often can produce startling results.

Just consider: If all OBs contribute by gift aid as follows:-

• £1 per month, less than a cup of Espresso coffee, will raise £38,400 annually
• £2 per month, less than half a cinema seat, will raise £76,800 annually
• £5 per month, less than 4 litres of petrol, will raise £192,000 annually
• £10 per month, less than a CD, will raise £384,000 annually.

Major Gifts - Major gifts to Christ College will usually be a large sum given for a specific purpose. The donor may wish to support scholarships or bursaries. On the other hand it may be for a major development as part of the Christ College Development Plan or to provide a facility about which the donor feels strongly. The Governors welcome the opportunity to name projects after individual benefactors and wish to establish a close and lasting relationship with them. If you are able to assist the school in this way please contact the Foundation Director, in confidence, and he will be delighted to take matters further with you.