Leave a gift in your Will

Leaving a gift in your Will to SOS Children’s Villages is a powerful way to create a lasting legacy. Your generosity will provide children with the love, care, and opportunities they need to thrive. By including us in your Will, you ensure your impact continues for generations to come.

Leaving a gift in your Will is one of the most impactful ways to support the work of SOS Children’s Villages.

Legacy gifts provide the long-term stability needed to plan and sustain vital programmes that transform the lives of children who have lost parental care around the world. By including us in your Will, you ensure that your values and compassion continue to make a difference for generations.

Whether it’s providing a loving home, quality education, or emergency care, your legacy gift will have a lasting impact, helping children grow into empowered adults. Your generosity today will shape a brighter future tomorrow.

Three young children laughing and looking at an ipad.

Interested in leaving a legacy?

If you’re considering leaving a gift in your will to SOS Children’s Villages and would like more information or to receive a copy in the post, please fill out the form below. We’re here to guide you through the process and answer any questions you may have. Your legacy can change lives.

Reasons to leave a gift in your Will

Create a lasting legacy

By leaving a gift in your will, you ensure your compassion continues to impact children’s lives for generations.

Support future generations

Your legacy gift provides vital, long-term support, helping a new generation of children access education, care, and opportunities.

Provide stability and security

Your legacy gift ensures ongoing support for vulnerable children, giving them the stability and care they need to thrive.

Your questions answered

Leaving a legacy gift to SOS Children’s Villages is a powerful way to ensure your values live on, providing lasting support to vulnerable children around the world. This section answers common questions about legacy giving and how you can make a lasting difference in the lives of future generations.

Legacy giving, or leaving a gift in your will, is a way to support SOS Children’s Villages beyond your lifetime. It ensures your values live on by helping vulnerable children and communities for generations to come.

You can include a gift to SOS Children’s Villages in your will by adding us as a beneficiary. This could be a percentage of your estate, a fixed amount, or specific assets. It’s best to consult with a solicitor to ensure your wishes are clearly expressed.

No, every gift, no matter the size, makes a significant difference. Whether large or small, your contribution will help transform the lives of children around the world.

 

80% of your legacy gift will go directly to the programme or area you specify, ensuring your contribution makes a real impact. The remaining 20% will be used to support good governance, safeguarding, and effective management of funds, ensuring your gift is used responsibly and sustainably.

If you don’t specify the areas you’d like your legacy to support, we will ensure it is used where it can make the greatest impact at that time. These types of legacies are incredibly valuable, as they give us the flexibility to respond to urgent needs and support the programs that need it most.

Yes, you can update your will at any time. You can add a gift to SOS Children’s Villages by creating a codicil, which is a legal amendment to your existing will. It’s advisable to seek legal advice to ensure the changes are correctly documented.

While you’re under no obligation to tell us, it would be helpful to know if you’ve included SOS Children’s Villages in your Will. This allows us to thank you personally and plan for the future. However, we understand if you prefer to keep this private.

Yes, if you wish, you can direct your gift towards a specific area of our work, such as emergency response, education, or long-term care. You can also leave your gift to a specific region or country. Alternatively, you can allow us to use your gift where it’s most needed at the time. We do not recommend that legacy donations are left to a specific child

There are three types of gift you can leave in your Will:

  • A share of your estate – This is a percentage of your estate after all other gifts and expenses have been paid. These gifts are very important to us as they usually maintain their value or increase over time. Just a small percentage can transform the lives of so many vulnerable children.
  • A specific sum – This is a gift of a set amount of money.
  • A specific item – This could be something valuable such as an antique, painting, property or shares that we would sell.

If you leave a gift to SOS Children’s Villages UK in your Will it will not be included when valuing your estate for Inheritance Tax purposes. The value of your gift will be deducted from your estate before Inheritance Tax is applied. However, Inheritance Tax rules can change so it’s always best to discuss your Will and the type of gift you might like to leave with your solicitor.

If you decide to leave a gift in your Will to SOS Children’s Villages UK it’s straightforward. You just need to give your solicitor our registered address and charity number:

Address: Ravenscroft House, 59-61 Regent Street, Cambridge, CB2 1AB
Registered charity number: 1069204

If you prefer, you can give the following wording to your solicitor. They will make sure your Will is valid and that your wishes are followed.

A share of your estate
My bequest to SOS Children’s Villages UK of the residual estate (or a proportion of) – a residuary or percentage legacy “Subject to the payment of my debts, funeral and testamentary expenses, I give the whole (residuary) or ______% of my estate not otherwise disposed of by this my Will to SOS Children’s Villages UK (Registered charity number 1069204) of Ravenscroft House, 59-61 Regent Street, Cambridge, CB2 1AB, for the general purposes of SOS Children’s Villages UK and I declare that the receipt of their Treasurer or other proper officer shall be a full and sufficient discharge.”

A specific sum of money
My bequest to SOS Children’s Villages UK for a set sum – a pecuniary legacy “I give free of tax to SOS Children’s Villages UK (Registered charity number 1069204) of Ravenscroft House, 59-61 Regent Street, Cambridge, CB2 1AB, the sum of £______ for the general purposes of SOS Children’s Villages UK and I declare that the receipt of their Treasurer or other proper officer shall be a full and sufficient discharge.”

If you decide to leave a gift in your Will to SOS Children’s Villages UK it’s straightforward. You just need to give your solicitor our registered address and charity number:

Address: Ravenscroft House, 59-61 Regent Street, Cambridge, CB2 1AB
Registered charity number: 1069204

If you prefer, you can give the following wording to your solicitor. They will make sure your Will is valid and that your wishes are followed.

A share of your estate
My bequest to SOS Children’s Villages UK of the residual estate (or a proportion of) – a residuary or percentage legacy “Subject to the payment of my debts, funeral and testamentary expenses, I give the whole (residuary) or ______% of my estate not otherwise disposed of by this my Will to SOS Children’s Villages UK (Registered charity number 1069204) of Ravenscroft House, 59-61 Regent Street, Cambridge, CB2 1AB, for the general purposes of SOS Children’s Villages UK and I declare that the receipt of their Treasurer or other proper officer shall be a full and sufficient discharge.”

A specific sum of money
My bequest to SOS Children’s Villages UK for a set sum – a pecuniary legacy “I give free of tax to SOS Children’s Villages UK (Registered charity number 1069204) of Ravenscroft House, 59-61 Regent Street, Cambridge, CB2 1AB, the sum of £______ for the general purposes of SOS Children’s Villages UK and I declare that the receipt of their Treasurer or other proper officer shall be a full and sufficient discharge.”

Your loved ones should always come first, but any gift you leave to SOS Children’s Villages UK, no matter how big or small, will mean we are able to continue to provide some of the world’s most vulnerable children with a stable environment to grow up in, where they feel loved, safe and supported.

It is a wonderful comfort to know where your money will go in the future. However, during the time between making your Will and when we receive your gift, our village communities may have changed and we may no longer be in that area. At that time there may be other village communities/countries in greater need. If you would like an SOS Children’s Villages community to benefit, please do also state in your Will that if this SOS Children’s Villages community does not exist at that time, that SOS Children’s Villages UK can use the gift wherever the need is greatest.

Unfortunately, we aren’t able to gift a donation in your Will to a specific child. During the time between making your Will and when we receive your gift, the child may have left our care; whether by reaching an age of independence or being reunited with their family. At this stage we may not have their contact details and so would be unable to pass on information/monies to them. 

Contact us about your donation

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More ways you can help

Legacy Guide