Keep the future in safe hands by leaving a legacy to the College
Help make our operation a success by choosing to leave a gift in your will to The Royal College of Surgeons of England. As a charity, the College continues to strive to make significant progress and breakthroughs in the world of surgery. We rely on the support we receive in the form of legacy gifts from people who share in our aims and concerns.
Past legacies have enabled us to purchase essential equipment and support a range of projects in education and research. If you wish your legacy can be used in a particular area of surgical healthcare that has been of interest or concern to you or you can leave an unspecified gift which will allow us to direct funds to areas of particular need or priority.
The Michael M Brown Legacy
The £1,000 pecuniary legacy gifted to the College helped us to support Mr Shahid Farid with his research into tumour markers in liver cancer.
Types of legacy
There are several different kinds of gift you can leave in your will. The most common are described below.
Leave a share of your estate
You may wish to leave us all or part of what is left of your estate after other gifts and debts have been paid. This type of gift (known as a residuary bequest) is easy to add to an existing will without interfering with any specific sums you have left to family or friends. It also has the advantage that it will not be eroded in value by inflation over the years.
Leave a fixed sum of money
You may wish to leave us a stated sum of money. With this kind of gift (known as a pecuniary bequest), it is wise to remember that the value of money changes over the years, and you may need to alter your will periodically to keep up with inflation.
Leave a specific item of value
You may wish to leave us a particular item (known as a specific bequest), which can be sold to support the College’s aims. It could be property, or an item of value such as an antique or a piece of jewellery.
Donations in memory
You may wish to specify that if friends/relatives make a donation in your memory that it should be to The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Create a will
Why?
Without a will…
- the law dictates the distribution of your estate. Your possessions may not pass entirely to your next of kin or spouse, but may be divided among relatives you didn’t intend to benefit.
- if you die without a will and any surviving relatives, the government will take everything that you own.
- this may cause unnecessary worry and delay for your family in settling your estate
If you make a will…
- you may well be able to spare your family the burden of inheritance tax.
- you can never take for granted that your wishes will be carried out after your death. Only by making a will can you ensure that your wishes are legally binding.
When making your Will there are several things to be considered:
- making a list of your assets
- thinking about the way in which you want to divide your estate
- thinking about who to appoint as executor
Update your will
It's vital to review your Will regularly to ensure that it reflects your current wishes and circumstances. For instance, you may need to change your will if you have got married, divorced, moved house or there has been a death of a friend or family member.
How can we help you to help us?
If you would like further information on how to go about leaving a bequest, the College has prepared an easy-to-read guide entitled 'Making or Changing Your Will' which can be obtained from Development Office.
Please email fundraising@rcseng.ac.uk to request your guide or alternatively call us on 020 7869 6086 and we will be only to happy to assist with your enquiry.
The Royal College of Surgeons of England would advise that anyone making or updating a will should get in touch with a practicing solicitor who can help you to do this.
How recent legacies have helped
Legacies large and small help the College immeasurably in our aim of maintaining the highest standards of surgical practice and patient care.
The Patricia Constance Curry legacy
Thanks to this kind residuary legacy of £301,816 designated to the Surgical Research Fund the College will be able to fund six one year research fellowships.
The Dr Margaret June Witt legacy
Dr Witt's generous bequest of £182,326 enabled us to establish and education scholarship fund that gives awards annually to enable trainees to attend surgical training courses.
