Make a Will Month April 2024

Secure your family’s future and your peace of mind

Wirral Hospice St John’s annual Make a Will month will be in April.

The hospice provides specialist care and support services, free of charge, to patients with life-limiting illnesses, alongside appropriate support for their loved ones too.

It costs more than £6 million each year to run the hospice and this is only possible through the ongoing support of our whole Wirral community, individuals, businesses and other organisations, who support the hospice in so many ways.

Make a Will Month

Each April, a host of Wirral solicitors partner with the hospice to offer people the chance to make a new Will, or revise their old one.

The participating legal firms offer valuable time and waive their normal fees to ask people to make a kind donation to the hospice for their Will-writing services at a significant discount to the normal cost.

For a suggested donation of £100 for a single Will or £150 for a double Will, which goes directly here to your local adult hospice, you can be safe in the knowledge that all of your assets will go exactly where you wish them to when you’re no longer around.

Appointments are available throughout April but fill up really quickly, so an early booking is strongly advised and we encourage supporters to contact the Fundraising office by telephone or email so we can send a Make a Will voucher and list of solicitors who are taking part.

When you make your booking, the solicitor you choose will send out an initial form for you to fill in so that the main issues you want to be addressed in your Will are covered.

Why Make A Will?

It’s natural for people to believe there’s plenty of time before they have to take this important step, but experience tells us that it’s never too early. If your Will is not officially drawn up then your assets may be subject to processes under the law which may have negative repercussions for loved ones for many years.

You may already have a Will in place but major changes can happen in life, including marriage, divorce, having children or even the death of a loved one, which can potentially invalidate some, or all, of a current Will.

Unmarried partners or those who have not registered a civil partnership cannot inherit from each other unless there is a Will in place. Homeowners and people with dependent children are especially encouraged to have an up-to-date Will.

Legacies

Legacies have become a significant part of hospice income and, although amounts greatly vary according to people’s circumstances, Wirral Hospice St John’s is extremely grateful when people choose to leave a gift of any size.

Anything that is left to a charity is not counted towards the total taxable value of your estate and, if you leave at least 10% of your ‘net estate’ to a charity, it can cut inheritance tax from 40% to 36% where that may be applicable.

There are different ways of leaving a gift in your Will;

Residual legacy: A gift of the remainder or share of your estate, after all other gifts are given and debts cleared. You could leave anything between 1% to 100%

Pecuniary legacy: A gift of a fixed sum of money

Specific legacy: A gift of a particular named item such as jewellery, a painting, a car or such like.

Please do note that if you further choose to leave something to the hospice, or any other charity, in your Will it is totally for your discretion and completely confidential between you and your solicitor.

Book early before spaces fill up

Fran, a hospice supporter who made a Will through Make a Will Month told us about her experience,

“I decided it was time to update my Will. I read the information, spoke to Julia at the hospice and called one of the solicitors. It was really easy. After completing the paperwork, I made my donation to the hospice for around half of what it might have cost normally. I also chose to leave a gift in my Will for the hospice. I had thought you might have to leave a specific amount but actually, you can leave any percentage of whatever estate you leave. There was no pressure at all, I just wanted to make a further contribution towards our hospice for some time in the future. 

Many Thanks to Fran and the many people who support the hospice through Make a Will month each April, the hospice is so grateful for everyone’s support.

To find out more information and to request a list of this year’s solicitors, please contact Julia Evans at Wirral Hospice St John’s in the following ways;

Call: 0151 343 0778, Email: juliae@wirralhospice.org or complete the below form.