Your Scottish Will can be used to leave specific gifts or legacies to specific individuals or organisations. You can instruct your executors to distribute your belongings according to your wishes. Broadly, there are 3 main types of gifts or legacy:

• Devises, which is simply a gift of real estate – land or property. A typical example of this would be your main residence.
• Pecuniary Legacies, which is a gift of a sum of money.
• Finally a gift may be any of your personal belongings that may not have any intrinsic worth but hold sentimental value. Gifts do not have to have any minimum value.

You may want to leave a legacy to your favourite charity and this is catered for within your Scottish Will. Such a gift will benefit from having tax free status and therefore can also be used to reduce Inheritance Tax bills. All you need to do is list the full name of the charity, along with the address and Registered Number.

Sometimes a gift or legacy may not be appropriate to an individual until they have reached a certain age. Again, this can be catered for within your Will where you have Trustees to act on your behalf for the best interests of the beneficiaries. These Trustees will endeavour to preserve these gifts as best they can and allocate them to the beneficiaries at the specific time or age that you specified.

You do not have to list everything you own in your Will, it is not a shopping list! Any gifts, legacies or particular items you want to go to particular people or organisations should be listed in your Will. The balance, or residue, of your estate will then be distributed by your executors as per the general provisions of your Will.

To receive qualified and ethical advice in relation to any aspect of your Scottish Will-Writing and Estate Planning requirements contact Willtrust Ltd on: