Leaving a Legacy Gift
First and foremost, if you are considering making a Legacy Gift (a gift in your Will) to a Masonic Charity, thank you for your kind thought. Any legacy gift, of whatever kind and of whatever value, large or small, will be gratefully received and faithfully applied.
Legacy Gifts may also be referred to as “bequests”. There is no difference between the two; we simply prefer to use “Legacy Gift”.
There are a variety of types of Wills and of gifts you can specify in your Will. Whilst some information is given here, it is not meant to be comprehensive and we strongly recommend that you consult a solicitor or other qualified person to seek assistance in completing or amending your Will.
Types of Legacy Gift
The three most popular types of Legacy Gift are called Specific, Pecuniary and Residuary.
A Specific gift consists of a particular named item, covering anything from a piece of jewellery to a house.
A Pecuniary gift consists of a fixed, specified amount of money.
A Residuary gift consists of a part, or the whole, of the residue of your estate after all other gifts have been made, and any debts, taxes and expenses have been paid.
If you wish to remember one or more of the Central Masonic Charities by leaving them a Legacy Gift in your Will, you might like to consider the following suggested wording. You may take this to your solicitor when discussing your Will to help ensure that your wishes are followed accurately.
Specific Gift
I give the {description of item} to {details of the charity} and the receipt of the Honorary Treasurer or the proper officer for the time being of the said charity shall be a complete discharge to my Executors.
Pecuniary Gift
I give the sum of {amount} pounds to {details of the charity} and the receipt of the Honorary Treasurer or the proper officer for the time being of the said charity shall be a complete discharge to my Executors.
Residuary Gift
I give {percentage} of the residue of my real and personal estate which I can dispose of by Will in any manner I think proper to {details of the charity} and the receipt of the Honorary Treasurer or the proper officer for the time being of the said charity shall be a complete discharge to my Executors.
One term which can apply to a whole Will, or to a gift specified within a Will, is "Reversionary". With a Reversionary Will or Legacy Gift, the whole estate, or a specified gift, is left to a named beneficiary (or beneficiaries), with the stipulation that, on the death of the beneficiary (or beneficiaries) the estate or gift reverts to another beneficiary (or beneficiaries). To illustrate this with an example: a married Freemason with no children might leave his entire estate to his wife, but stipulate in his Will that on her death, the estate should revert to a Masonic Charity. In this way, the wife has the benefit of the estate for the duration of her life. However, should the wife die first, the reversionary beneficiary would benefit immediately upon the subsequent death of the Freemason.
Regardless of the type of gift you wish to leave, the following clause should also be included:
If at my death any charity named as a beneficiary in this Will or any Codicil hereto has changed its name or amalgamated with or transferred its assets to another body then my Executors shall give effect to any gift made to such charity as if it had been made (in the first case) to the body in its changed name or (in the second place) to the body which results from such amalgamation or to which such transfer has been made.
The above clause is vital in ensuring that, should any of the charities change their name (as has happened for good reason in the past), they will still be able to receive the intended gift in due time without recourse to legal proceedings to prove their identity.
The details of the four Central Masonic Charities are as follows:
The Freemasons’ Grand Charity (Registered Charity No. 281942), 60 Great Queen Street, LONDON WC2B 5AZ.
Masonic Samaritan Fund (Registered Charity No. 1001298), 60 Great Queen Street, LONDON WC2B 5AZ.
Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution (Registered Charity No. 207360), 60 Great Queen Street, LONDON WC2B 5AZ.
Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys (Registered Charity No. 285836), 60 Great Queen Street, LONDON WC2B 5AZ.
If you have already made your Will, and would like to amend it to include a gift to a charity, you can do so by means of an amendment (Codicil) using the same wording suggested above.
The Following is a suggestion for wording a Codicil:
Dated 18th March 2007
First Codicil to the Will, dated 1st January 1996, of Frederick Bloggs.
I, Frederick Bloggs, of 6 Any Street, ANYTOWN, Anyshire, AN1 1PC declare this to be a first Codicil to my last Will dated 1st January 1996 (“the Will”).
1. In addition to the legacies left by me in the Will, I also leave £x to be divided equally amongst the following:
1.1 The Freemasons’ Grand Charity (Registered Charity No. 281942), of 60 Great Queen Street, LONDON WC2B 5AZ
1.2 Masonic Samaritan Fund (Registered Charity No. 1001298), of 60 Great Queen Street, LONDON WC2B 5AZ
1.3 Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution (Registered Charity No. 207360), of 60 Great Queen Street, LONDON WC2B 5AZ
1.4 Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys (Registered Charity No. 285836), of 60 Great Queen Street, LONDON WC2B 5AZ
2. In all other respects, I confirm the Will.
As witness my hand this eighteenth day of March 2007
Signed by the said Frederick Bloggs: Signature
In our presence and then by us in his: Witness details and signatures