What Does a Charity's Gifts in Wills Page Need to Give Supporters and Their Solicitors?
Key takeaways
- The Code of Fundraising Practice says suggested will wording should include the charity's full name and address and its registration details, and that the charity must be clear the wording does not represent legal advice.
- GOV.UK tells people leaving a gift in their will to include the charity's full name and to check it with the charity or on the charity registers, so the gifts in wills page is where that check lands.
- The page should give the registered name exactly as each register shows it, the number on every register the charity is on, its legal form and its registered address, as text that can be copied.
- Under section 311 of the Charities Act 2011, once a merger is entered in the register of charity mergers, most gifts to the charity that closed take effect as gifts to the one that received its property, but only for gifts taking effect on or after the date of registration.
- GOV.UK says gifts to charity in a will are taken off the estate before Inheritance Tax is worked out, and that leaving 10% or more of the net value to charity can reduce the rate to 36% on some assets.
- HMRC's manual says that from 15 March 2023, or 1 April 2024 for some bodies, gifts are only exempt from Inheritance Tax where they are made to UK charities, so an international NGO's page should name its UK charity, not the global brand.
Summary
A gifts in wills page needs to give supporters and their solicitors the charity's exact legal identity: the registered name as each register shows it, the number on each register, the legal form and the registered address, in wording they can copy. The Code of Fundraising Practice already says suggested wording should carry the full name, address and registration details, and must be clear that it is not legal advice. The harder part is keeping that identity true for the decades a will can wait, through mergers, renames and changes of structure. This post covers the page, not the drafting of wills or tax advice.
The Short Answer
It needs to give them your legal identity, exactly:
- the name you are registered under on each register you are on
- the number on each
- your legal form
- your registered address
- suggested wording that uses all of them, as text someone can copy.
It also has to stay true for as long as a will can wait: record every former name, merger and change of structure rather than overwriting the old details.
Tax and drafting belong to the person's own solicitor. The page says no more about either than GOV.UK does.
A will is read once, years after it was written, by someone who cannot ask the person what they meant.
The NGO website section checklist tags the gifts in wills page Best practice: no law requires one. What follows is what the page has to carry once you decide to have it.
Who Reads This Page
Three people read it, at different times:
- The supporter, while planning for their own death.
- Their solicitor or will-writer, for the facts the will needs.
- Their executors, later, when the gift has to be paid to someone.
The supporter comes first, and sets the tone. The Code of Fundraising Practice opens its section on legacies (rule 14.1.1) by requiring legacy fundraising to consider "the freedom of the potential testator to provide for their family and others".
The Charity Commission's guidance on legacies puts it more plainly: "everyone has a right to provide for their own family and friends".
So the page carries no countdown and no pressure, and lets people find the facts without signing up for anything.
What the Code Already Asks For
Rule 14.1.2 of the same Code, in force since 1 November 2025, is the closest thing to a specification for this page:
- Information you give people to put in their will must be "clear and accurate".
- You "must be clear that any suggested wording does not represent legal advice".
- Suggested wording about your charity "should include" your full name and address and your registration details, "such as the charity number and registered address".
The Code is not statute, but it is the standard a complaint about your legacy fundraising would be judged against.
GOV.UK sends the supporter to the same place. Its guidance on leaving gifts to charity in your will says: "Include the charity's full name - check with them", or search the registers for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Your gifts in wills page is where "check with them" lands. If it gives a different name from the register, the person has been handed two answers to one question.
The Identity Block
Put the facts in one block, in HTML, above any wording or form. Not in a PDF pack only, and never as an image of text, because a solicitor will copy it.
- The registered name, exactly. Not the name on your logo. The Charity Commission register lists working names separately from the registered name. OSCR's guidance on publicising that you are a charity asks for "your charity's name, as entered in the Scottish Charity Register" and the working name if you have one. Give both, and say which is which.
- A number for every register. England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and any other register you are on, each labelled. A cross-border supporter's solicitor may check the register in their own jurisdiction first.
- The legal form. Charitable company, CIO, trust, Royal Charter body. For a company, the company number too.
- The registered address. If the legacy team uses a different address for correspondence, give both and label them.
- The UK entity. An international NGO's brand often covers several legal bodies. HMRC's manual says that from 15 March 2023, or 1 April 2024 for bodies that had already asserted charity status, transfers are only exempt from Inheritance Tax where made to UK charities. A page that invites a gift to the global name, without naming the UK charity, invites a will that names the wrong body.
The British Red Cross's guide to leaving a gift lists the "registered name and address" and "registered charity number" among the details to gather before seeing a solicitor. Beneath it, a note names the legal body ("The British Red Cross Society, incorporated by Royal Charter 1908") and its number on four registers. The register shows "British Red Cross" as a working name. I loaded both on 1 October 2026.
A donor checks the same facts before an ordinary gift, covered in what donors check before they give. They should match your footer and your register entries character for character. What the law requires in the footer is set out in what UK charities must publish.
When the Name in the Will Is No Longer You
A will can be signed decades before it is read. In that time a charity may merge, rename or change its legal form. The page has to serve the solicitor holding an old will, not only the person writing a new one.
Mergers
Section 311 of the Charities Act 2011 applies once a merger is entered in the register of charity mergers. A gift that would have gone to the charity that closed then takes effect as a gift to the charity that received its property. There are two limits:
- It covers gifts taking effect on or after the date the merger was registered, so registering late leaves a gap.
- It excludes a gift meant for the permanent endowment of a charity that kept that endowment back when it merged.
The Commission's guidance on the register says the receiving charity registers the merger, and that it is voluntary unless a pre-merger vesting declaration was used.
Changes of structure
The same guidance counts "changing structure" as a merger: usually a trust or unincorporated association that moves its work into a new CIO or charitable company and closes.
A charitable company converting to a CIO is different. The Commission's guidance on changing structure says the charity "continues to exist but in a different form", should be able to keep its name and number, and that "in most cases" the new CIO should receive gifts left to the original company. The company leaves the Companies House register, so the company number and any wording describing you as a company have to come off the page.
Renames
A new name does not rewrite the wills that use the old one.
A hypothetical case: a will signed years ago leaves a share of the estate to a small trust by its old name. The trust has since moved its work into a new CIO and closed. If the move was registered as a merger, the gift can follow. If the page shows only the CIO's name, the executors' solicitor has nothing to connect the two.
The record to keep
Keep a short, permanent record on the page:
- every former registered name
- every predecessor charity and its number
- the date of each change
- where there was a merger, the date it was entered on the register.
The Commission publishes the register of merged charities as a downloadable list, so a solicitor can check the date for themselves.
Inheritance Tax, Stated No More Strongly Than GOV.UK
Supporters will ask about tax, and the page should answer in GOV.UK's words. The leaving-gifts guidance says a donation "will be taken off the value of your estate before Inheritance Tax is calculated", and that the rate "may also be reduced" if 10% or more of the estate goes to charity. The Inheritance Tax overview says the estate can pay a reduced rate of 36% "on some assets" if 10% or more of the net value is left to charity.
- Keep the "may" and the "some".
- Link the GOV.UK pages rather than paraphrase them.
- Do not offer a calculation.
How a will is worded so that a gift meets the 10% test is a drafting matter, and HMRC's manual has its own guidance on such clauses. That belongs with the person's solicitor, not on your page.
For Executors
Executors need a short, separate route:
- who to contact
- the exact name payments should be made to
- how you confirm receipt
- the same identity block
- the record of former names, which an executor working from an old will is the reader most likely to need.
If the page invites people to tell you they have left a gift, make it optional and ask for little.
Some supporters will be people your major donor work already knows: see major donor cultivation.
If the page offers to pay for a will, rule 14.3.3 of the Code applies: where you use a will-writing partner, you must give at least two providers to choose from, without recommending one.
Who Owns It
The facts on this page come from governance, not fundraising. I would make the person who keeps your register entries up to date the owner of the identity block, and the legacy team the owner of everything around it.
The triggers are easy to name:
- a merger
- a rename
- a change of legal form
- registration with a new regulator
- a change of registered address.
Each changes the block, the wording, the footer and the record of former names on the same day. Have your legal adviser approve the wording each time it changes: the Code requires it to be accurate and to say that it is not advice.
The supporter reads the page once. Their executors read the will it produced, long after the page has changed.
Further Reading
- NGO Website Section Checklist: gifts in wills
- NGO Website Section Checklist: footer legal line
- What Do Donors Check on a Charity's Website Before They Give?
- Charity Commission Website Requirements: What UK Charities Must Publish
- How Your Website Supports (or Undermines) Major Donor Cultivation
- Form Design for Nonprofit Websites
What This Post Does Not Cover
This is about the page: what it carries, how it stays accurate and who owns it. It is not legal or tax advice.
The wording of a will, whether a gift qualifies for the Inheritance Tax exemption or reduced rate, and how an old gift is dealt with after a merger are questions for the supporter's solicitor, the executors' lawyers and your own legal adviser.
The register of charity mergers is an England and Wales mechanism. I have not checked how Scotland or Northern Ireland treat gifts to a charity that has merged or closed.
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Frequently asked questions
- Do we have to publish suggested will wording on our website?
No. No law requires a gifts in wills page, and the section checklist tags it Best practice. If you do offer wording, the Code of Fundraising Practice (rule 14.1.2) says it should include your full name and address and your registration details, and you must be clear that it does not represent legal advice. Have your own legal adviser approve it before it goes on the page.
- Which name and number should the wording use?
The name exactly as your charity is registered, not the working name on your logo, and the number from every register you are on, labelled by register. The Charity Commission register lists working names separately from the registered name, and OSCR asks Scottish charities to show the name as entered in the Scottish Charity Register. The footer should carry the same details, as the footer legal line row sets out.
- What happens to a gift in an old will if our charity merges into another?
Most gifts to the charity that closed take effect as gifts to the one that received its property, once the merger is entered in the register of charity mergers. Section 311 of the Charities Act 2011 does this for gifts taking effect on or after the date of registration. The Charity Commission's guidance says the receiving charity registers the merger, which is voluntary unless a pre-merger vesting declaration was used. How a particular gift is dealt with is for the executors and their lawyers.
- We are converting from a charitable company to a CIO. Does our suggested wording change?
Yes. The Charity Commission's guidance on changing structure says a converting company continues to exist in a different form, should be able to keep its name and charity number, and that in most cases the new CIO should receive gifts left to the original company. The company leaves the Companies House register, so the company number and any description of the charity as a company come off the page and the wording, and the page should date the conversion.
- Should the page explain the Inheritance Tax reduced rate?
Briefly, in GOV.UK's own terms, and with a link. GOV.UK says the estate can pay Inheritance Tax at a reduced rate of 36% on some assets if 10% or more of the net value is left to charity. Whether it applies to an estate, and how a will is worded to meet the test, is for the person's own solicitor or tax adviser. Do not promise a saving.
- Should we ask people to tell us they have left a gift?
You can invite it, but never make it a condition of anything, and ask only for what you will use. People are telling you about plans for after their death, and the Code's legacy rules start from their freedom to provide for family and others first. If you do use a form, the mechanics are in form design for nonprofit websites.