Legacy Notification Services
Are you looking to increase your legacy income or the number of bequests left to your charity? Smee & Ford’s legacy notification services provide legacy fundraisers with timely information on specific legacies left to their charity, or notifications of money left in wills or trusts for unspecified but relevant charitable purposes.
Our dedicated and experienced team of reporters read over 5,000 wills every week to provide our clients with relevant notifications within weeks of a will becoming public knowledge.
Smee & Ford provide 3 legacy notification services:
Smee & Ford has been invaluable to Bible Society. On a number of occasions we have received legacies, which we would not otherwise have done
Matthew J Payne, Legacy Officer,
Bible Society
The S&F [named] notification service provides us with very useful early warning of potential gifts. Some executors don’t know how to contact us, so they are grateful when we get in touch.
Ian Clark, Stewardship, Chichester Diocese Church of England.
If someone’s left you a legacy, the earlier you know the sooner your charity will benefit. Smee & Ford’s
Named Service will inform you of legacies left to your charity within weeks of a will becoming available, enabling you to:
- receive money left to your charity even earlier
- forecast your legacy budget more accurately
- identify your target market for future legacy fundraising campaigns
- make earlier applications for tax relief on residuary payments
Our reporters also inform you if a will contains ambiguous information that may relate to your charity, for example when a charity is incorrectly named and could relate to a number of organisations. This will enable you to be the first to approach the executors, which could increase your chances of receiving the bequest.
Every year, more than £40 million is left in wills for unspecified charitable purposes, such as ‘medical research’ or ‘care for animals in Manchester’.
Smee & Ford’s
Discretionary Service gives you details of relevant notifications, so that you can approach the executors of these estates on a speculative basis. With this information at hand and a well-written appeal, the benefits for your charity can be significant. Choose your service to incorporate:
- General legacies that do not specify a cause
- Legacies by geographical fundraising area, be it national or by post coded area
- Legacies by causal area
Every year, tens of millions of pounds are left in wills to set up new charitable trusts or to inject substantial sums into existing trusts. Smee & Ford’s records show that, as gifts of this type are infrequent, it is difficult for charities to discover them. However, the amounts are often substantial, making them an important source of legacy income.
The Smee & Ford Charitable Trust Service guarantees that your charity is notified of every charitable trust that is set up. By saving you time and informing you of the potential income from this source much earlier than any other methods allow, it will give you more time for you to focus on your appeals.
What information will my charity receive?
Whichever service you subscribe to, you will receive a report for every will that contains relevant information for your organisation. Each report provides the following information relating to the deceased:
- name
- address
- date of death
- date of will
- details of the legacy
- the executors of the estate
- the extracting solicitors
Contact
For more information or advice on the most appropriate service for your charity:
E-mail: info@smeeandford.co.uk
Call: 020 7324 2312