Legacies – a lasting gift
Whatever your relationship with us, please help the
churches flourish in the future with a loving bequest.
A gift in your Will is one of the most valuable and lasting ways you can continue supporting our mission and ministry.
Perhaps you enjoy our friendly fellowship, inspiring music, community activities and historic buildings? You might worship with us regularly, have attended a special life event, popped in for a moment of quiet reflection, or simply love our church buildings.
We hope that, if you are writing or updating your Will, you might consider leaving a bequest to the Parish so that we can flourish into the future. We receive no funding from the Church of England or Government and are reliant on the generosity of our supporters, both for day-to-day running costs, maintenance and the added ‘extras’ that make worship at St Martin’s and St Paul’s so special.
We strongly advise that you see a solicitor when writing or amending your Will. But here are some options that might help:
To leave a share of your estate (Residuary Bequest)
This is the gift of all or part of the value of your estate (after other legacies, debts, and liabilities have been met). This has the advantage of automatically keeping up with inflation.
To leave a fixed sum of money (Pecuniary Bequest)
You can choose to leave a sum of money, which you can arrange with your solicitor to be increased in line with inflation.
The suggested wording to use in your will is:
“I give ___% of my residuary estate OR I give the sum of £___ free of all taxes to the Parochial Church Council of the Parish of St Martin and St Paul (Reg.Charity No 1133979) in the Diocese of Canterbury for its general purposes*, and I declare that the receipt of an officer of the Parochial Church Council shall be a sufficient discharge to my executors and trustees.”
*How will your gift be used?
Our needs change over the years, so we encourage gifts to be left for the general purposes of the Parish (unrestricted), rather than for a specific purpose (restricted). However, if you would prefer to support something in particular (eg music, work with children, the fabric etc), or either of the churches, you can specify that in your Will.
If you do decide to include the Parish in your Will, you are not obliged to inform us, but if you do, we would welcome the opportunity to thank you. It would also allow us to plan ahead with confidence.
For more information, please speak to the Rector or Churchwardens.
THANK YOU – YOUR LEGACY WILL MAKE A LASTING DIFFERENCE AND WE WILL USE IT WISELY
