To widen access to our programmes and to give our alumni community the opportunity to give something back from their own success, the ifs School of Finance (Charity No. 297107) has established the ifs Alumni Fund. The Fund awards scholarships to help students meet their education and maintenance costs as well as providing funding for teaching resources essential for their studies. It aims to raise £100,000 in donations and pledges by 2015.

Leaving a legacy in your Will will help to ensure that your support for the Fund continues into the future. A pledge of any amount is a contribution to the future well-being and success of deserving students from all backgrounds.

Under current legislation, a legacy left to a charity is treated as being exempt from inheritance tax and therefore can be an effective way of reducing the inheritance tax burden whilst benefiting a valued cause.

Inclusion of a legacy can either be in a new Will or by adding a Codicil to your existing Will. In either case the instruction would state that the legacy is to be left to the ifs School of Finance (Charity No. 297107) for the purpose of contributing to the ifs Alumni Fund or, failing that, for the general purposes of the ifs School of Finance to be applied in accordance with its principal object (namely, “the advancement of knowledge of and education in financial services as the Board of Governors may determine from time to time and to carry out research and publish the useful results of such research for the benefit of the public”) and with the full power to expend capital as well as income.

We strongly recommend that you seek legal advice when preparing your Will, or any Codicil to be added to it, bearing in mind the significance of what you are intending to do in terms of directing your generosity and ensuring that your gift is treated in the most tax efficient way.

Bequests

Some examples of the ways you can leave a legacy are listed below:-

1.   Pecuniary Bequest

a fixed gift of money left in your Will.

2.   Residuary Bequest

when you give away the rest or part of your estate after all debts, taxes, expenses  and other legacies have been settled.

3.   Reversionary Bequest

when you leave something to a family member and, in the case of their death, it is passed on to someone else, such as the ifs Alumni Fund.