Charitable Gifts in Wills
Last verified: March 2026 (England & Wales)
If you want to support a charity after death, your Will can do that clearly, meaningfully and, in some cases, tax-efficiently.
That is the good news.
The more technical truth is that charitable gifts in Wills are often more nuanced than people realise. The wording matters. The amount matters. The structure matters. And some older charitable clauses now need a fresh look.
A gift to charity can be simple and effective. It can also be part of a wider inheritance-tax plan. But it should never be treated as a vague afterthought.
Supporting a charity in your Will can be excellent planning. That is a separate question from whether a charity free-will scheme is the right route for you.
Quick-read summary
- Gifts to qualifying charities in a Will are generally exempt from inheritance tax.
- If at least 10% of the relevant net estate is left to charity, the inheritance-tax rate on the taxable part may reduce from 40% to 36%.
- That 10% test is not simply 10% of your rough gross estate. It is a technical HMRC calculation.
- Charitable gifts can be drafted as a fixed sum, a percentage share, a specific item, or part of the residue.
- For some families, charity is mainly about values. For others, it can also improve the overall tax efficiency of the estate.
- Older clauses using broad “charitable purposes” wording, or trustee discretion guided only by a Letter of Wishes, may now need reviewing.
Why this matters
Many clients assume charitable giving in a Will is straightforward.
Sometimes it is.
If you want to leave £5,000 to a local hospice or 5% of your residue to a named charity, that can often be dealt with cleanly.
But once the aim becomes “leave enough to help charity and also improve the tax position”, or “let trustees choose the charity later”, or “make sure the gift always reaches the 10% threshold”, the drafting becomes much more technical.
That is where good estate planning makes a difference.
What counts as a charitable gift in a Will
A charitable gift in a Will can take several forms.
It may be:
- a fixed sum
- a specific item
- a share of the residue
- or wording designed to ensure the gift reaches a target level
For some clients, a simple cash legacy is the right answer.
For others, especially where inheritance tax is part of the picture, a percentage gift or a more carefully drafted residue clause can work better.
The “best” charity clause is not the most generous-sounding one. It is the one that actually works as intended after tax, costs and the rest of the estate have been accounted for.
How the 10% rule works
This is the part that gets simplified too often.
The common shorthand is: “Leave 10% to charity and the inheritance-tax rate drops from 40% to 36%.”Broadly, that is true.
But the important technical detail is that the 10% test is not simply 10% of your headline estate value. HMRC tests it against the relevant baseline amount, and the estate may be split into components for that purpose.
That means rough back-of-envelope maths can be misleading.
A person with a £1 million estate does not automatically qualify just because they leave £100,000 to charity. Sometimes that will work. Sometimes it will not. The detail depends on debts, exemptions, reliefs, the structure of the estate, and how the Will is drafted.
The 10% test is against HMRC’s baseline amount, not your rough gross estate.
Where the 36% rate can help
For the right estate, the reduced 36% rate can make a real difference.
This tends to matter most where:
- the estate is already likely to pay inheritance tax
- the client already wants to support charity
- and the charitable gift can be pitched at a level that improves the overall outcome
In the right case, the family receives less than if there were no charitable gift at all, but often by less than people expect, because the charity gift also reduces the tax rate on the taxable part of the estate.
That is one reason charitable giving can be both values-driven and tax-aware at the same time.
This is not just about tax
Not every charitable gift is about chasing the 36% rate.
Often the real goal is simpler.
A client may want to support:
- a charity that helped a spouse
- a hospice
- a church
- an animal charity
- a local cause that mattered to the family
That is entirely valid.
In those cases, the tax benefit may be helpful, but it is not the main reason for the gift. Good drafting should still make sure the gift is clear, workable and consistent with the rest of the estate plan.
Why older clauses need reviewing
This is where the article becomes more current.
Some older Wills use broad wording such as gifts “for charitable purposes”, with the detail left to trustees or a Letter of Wishes. In other cases, the Will may direct funds to be held on trust for charitable purposes rather than making a direct gift to a qualifying charity.
That approach now needs more care.
The current published position is that the inheritance-tax charity exemption is being restricted so that some broader charitable-purpose trust wording may no longer qualify in the way people assumed.
So if a Will was drafted years ago on the basis that “the trustees can choose charities later” or “this is for charitable purposes only”, that clause should not simply be assumed to be safe.
Older charitable clauses are not automatically wrong. But they should no longer be assumed to be harmless boilerplate.
Practical ways charitable gifts are drafted
In practice, charitable gifts in Wills are often drafted in one of these ways.
A fixed cash legacy
This is the simplest option.
For example, “I leave £10,000 to [named charity].”It is easy to understand, but inflation and estate growth can change its relative effect over time.
A share of residue
For example, “I leave 10% of my residuary estate to [named charity].”This can keep the gift proportionate to the size of the estate, but it still needs to be checked carefully if the aim is to hit the reduced-rate threshold.
A specific item or asset
A client may want to leave shares, jewellery, or another specific asset.
That can work well, but the drafting still needs to be practical. It should be clear what happens if the item has been sold or no longer exists by the date of death.
A clause designed to meet the 10% threshold
In some estates, the Will can be drafted so the charitable gift is the amount needed to satisfy the reduced-rate test.
This is more technical, but it can be very useful where the client wants to support charity and also make the tax position more efficient.
In the right estate, the Will can be drafted to aim at the reduced-rate threshold rather than guessing at the figure.
How this fits with the wider estate plan
A charitable gift should not be looked at in isolation.
It needs to sit sensibly alongside:
- gifts to family
- trusts in the Will
- tax thresholds and reliefs
- business or agricultural property
- pensions
- and the overall estate value
For example, a client with a larger taxable estate may look at charitable giving alongside our guides on £1Million Tax-Free, Residence Nil Rate Band (RNRB): rules & how to claim, and How Pensions Affect Inheritance Tax.
The point is not to bolt charity on at the end. It is to make sure the gift supports the wider plan.
What Fern Wills & LPAs does
Fern Wills & LPAs can help with the legal and estate-planning side of charitable giving in Wills.
That includes:
- deciding whether a charitable gift belongs in the Will at all
- choosing the right type of clause
- checking whether the 10% threshold is realistically in play
- reviewing older clauses that may now be too vague
- and making sure the charitable gift still fits the rest of the family plan
Where wider tax or investment issues arise, other advisers may also need to be involved.
What to review now
If charity is already mentioned in your Will, or you are thinking of adding it, these are the sensible review questions:
- Is the charity named clearly and correctly?
- Is the gift a fixed sum, a percentage, a specific item, or part of the residue?
- Is the gift mainly values-driven, tax-driven, or both?
- If the aim is to reach the reduced 36% rate, has the 10% test actually been checked properly?
- Does the clause still work with the rest of the estate plan?
- If the Will uses older “charitable purposes” wording, should it now be updated?
If you are not sure, that is usually the signal to review the Will rather than assume the clause is still doing what you intended.
Cases
The simple legacy that still works well
Janet wants to leave £5,000 to the hospice that cared for her husband. Her estate is not large enough for the 36% rate to matter. In her case, the right answer is a clean, direct legacy to a named charity. The goal is clarity, not tax engineering.
The family who want to give, but not over-give
Raj and Meena want to leave something meaningful to charity, but their children remain the priority. Their estate is likely to be taxable, so the question is not just whether they should give, but how much and in what form. A carefully drafted residue clause gives them a better balance than a random fixed figure.
The larger estate where the 10% rule becomes worthwhile
Andrew’s estate is well into inheritance-tax territory. He already supports a national charity and wants that to continue after death. In his case, a properly calculated charitable gift may both support the cause and improve the overall tax position. The drafting needs to be deliberate, not approximate.
The old Will with vague charitable wording
Margaret’s Will says a share of her estate is to be used “for charitable purposes”, with the detail to be decided later. Years ago, that may have seemed flexible. Now it needs reviewing. The family should not assume the inheritance-tax treatment will be what Margaret originally expected.
The client torn between charity and family
Peter wants to help a local charity, but he is worried about reducing what his children receive. Once the likely tax outcome is modelled properly, he sees that a charitable gift may reduce the family’s net inheritance by less than he first thought. The discussion becomes calmer and more informed.
Are gifts to charity in a Will inheritance-tax free?
Usually, gifts to qualifying charities are generally exempt from inheritance tax.
What is the 10% rule?
Broadly, if at least 10% of the relevant net estate is left to charity, the inheritance-tax rate on the taxable part may reduce from 40% to 36%.
Is that 10% of the whole estate?
Not necessarily. The test is technical and is not simply 10% of the rough gross estate figure people often use in conversation.
Can I leave a fixed sum to charity instead of a percentage?
Yes. A charitable gift can be a fixed sum, a share of residue, a specific item, or more tailored drafting where appropriate.
Do older charitable clauses need reviewing?
Often, yes. This is especially true where the Will uses broad “charitable purposes” wording, or leaves the detail to trustees or a Letter of Wishes.
Is this the same issue as a charity free-will scheme?
No. They are related only in the sense that both involve charities and Wills. A charitable gift in a professionally planned Will can be excellent. Whether a charity free-will scheme is the right route for your circumstances is a separate question.
This article is general information only, not individual advice.
If you want to include a charitable gift in your Will, or review an older clause, Fern Wills & LPAs can help you structure it properly as part of the wider estate plan.
Next steps
If you want to support charity in your Will, do it clearly and do it properly.
Fern Wills & LPAs can help you decide:
- whether a charitable gift belongs in the plan
- what form that gift should take
- whether the 10% threshold is relevant
- and whether any older charitable wording now needs updating
A short review now can prevent a well-meant gift from creating avoidable uncertainty later.
