Legacy Charity Gift Calculator

A legacy (or bequest) is a gift left to a charity in your Will. It can be a specific sum, a percentage of your estate, or specific assets. Legacy gifts are IHT-exempt and can significantly reduce the tax burden on your estate.

If you leave at least 10% of your net estate (after nil rate bands) to charity, the IHT rate on the remainder drops from 40% to 36%. This effectively means the government contributes 4% of the taxable estate towards your charitable gift.

Calculate: (Estate value - NRB - RNRB) × 10% = minimum charity gift required for 36% rate. For a £700,000 estate with full NRBs (£500,000): minimum charity gift = (£700,000 - £500,000) × 10% = £20,000.

The standard nil rate band (NRB) is £325,000 per person. The residence nil rate band (RNRB) is £175,000 for property passing to direct descendants. Married couples/civil partners can combine unused NRBs from the first death.

Only UK-registered charities recognised by HMRC qualify. Most UK registered charities (Charity Commission registered, CIOs, exempt charities) qualify. Community amateur sports clubs and some EU charities may also qualify — check with your solicitor.

Yes — the gift comes from the estate before distribution to family. However, the IHT saving partially offsets this. On a qualifying estate, your £20,000 charity gift may only reduce family inheritance by £12,000 (after the £8,000 IHT saving).

Yes — 'residuary bequests' (e.g. '10% of my estate to Cancer Research UK') automatically meet the 10% threshold if the estate is of sufficient size. This is often preferred as it scales with estate value without needing to update the amount.

Pecuniary: a specific fixed amount (e.g. £15,000 to Oxfam). Residuary: a share of what remains after specific gifts. For the 10% rule, both count — but residuary legacies are more flexible as they automatically keep pace with estate growth.

Yes — beneficiaries can redirect their inheritance to charity via a deed of variation within 2 years of death, and the same 10% rule applies. This is useful if the Will didn't include a charity gift.

Keep: the Will stating the charity gift, charity registration number, payment confirmation to the charity, and professional valuations of estate assets. HMRC requires this documentation when completing the IHT400 probate form.

Yes — the optimal gift is often the minimum required to just exceed the 10% threshold. Giving significantly more benefits the charity but doesn't reduce IHT further (beyond the exempt amount). Our calculator shows the exact threshold.

No — the RNRB is only affected by the amount of the estate passing to direct descendants. Charity gifts don't reduce the RNRB but do reduce the baseline used to calculate whether the estate qualifies for it (estates above £2m have a tapered RNRB).