Different types of legacy

You can make a gift to the University in your Will in several ways. The most common types of legacies are listed below:

Residuary

A residuary legacy is the whole, or a share, of what remains of your estate, once all gifts, debts, taxes and costs associated with it have been deducted. The benefit of residuary legacies is that the value is unaffected by inflation as there is no fixed sum. As the value of your estate increases, so will the value of your legacy.

Pecuniary

This is a gift of a fixed sum of money. These types of legacies can often be affected by inflation and their value can decrease. However, you can choose to link pecuniary legacies to the Retail Price Index in order to safeguard the sum of your gift. You should consult your solicitor and/or accountant for full details on index-linking.

Reversionary

This allows you to pass your estate (or asset) to an initial beneficiary for him or her to have the benefit and enjoyment during his or her lifetime. After this time, the estate (or asset) is passed to a specified person or charity absolutely. Given the complexity of reversionary legacies, we suggest that you contact a legal advisor to discuss legacies of this nature.

Specific

This is a gift of a specific item (e.g. books, fine art, special collections, life assurance policies) that you may feel will be beneficial to the University. We will either use the items as intended or we may sell the item (e.g. property, land, shares etc) and use the proceeds for the benefit of the University. In the case of books, the library may choose to find a more suitable, alternative home for them.

Conditional

This requires a particular event to occur. Conditional legacies mostly occur when you outlive all of the named beneficiaries in your Will.

For more information on how to leave a legacy please read our Goodwill Guide.