Information for solicitors and executors

If you're administering a will with a gift to the Royal Osteoporosis Society, you may find the information below useful.

Will and codicil

Where the gift is a residuary share in the estate, please forward a copy of the will and any codicil(s) to enable us to confirm entitlement to:

Royal Osteoporosis Society
St James House
The Square
Lower Bristol Road
Bath
BA2 3BH

Assets and liabilities

While we appreciate it is not always possible to ascertain the size of an estate immediately, it does help considerably if we know the details of the assets and liabilities.

Inheritance tax

All registered charities are exempt from Inheritance Tax.

Where an estate is partially exempt and partially chargeable, there are complex rules for attributing the incidence of Inheritance Tax.

Experience has shown that this is the area in which difficulties are most often encountered.

If you are in any doubt as to how the Inheritance Tax is calculated or how it is to be reflected in the account, we're happy to help.

Please note that where 10% or more of the estate is bequeathed to charity, the Inheritance Tax reduces to 36%.

If Inheritance Tax is payable, we would like the Personal Representatives to please provide a copy of their Inheritance Tax calculations and confirm whether a transferable nil rate band is being claimed.

Estate accounts

At the finalisation of the administration, please forward a copy of the Estate Accounts for approval, to satisfy the requirements of Section 25 of the Administration of Estates Act.

Should you require any assistance with regards to preparation of the Accounts, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sale of stock exchange investments

We would be grateful if the Personal Representatives could appropriate the Royal Osteoporosis Society’s share of any stock exchange investments into our name in the executors' books and sell them on our behalf acting as bare trustee.

This avoids any possible liability to Capital Gains Tax on the disposal.

We would prefer that our entitlement is sold through our stockbrokers:

Charles Stanley & Co. Ltd
25 Luke Street
London
EC2A 4AR
(DX:123150 Broadgate 1)

Please mark all correspondence for the attention of:

Nick Percy-Davis
Direct line 020 71496338

Charlotte Benge
Direct line: 020 7149 6684

Joanna Mason
Direct line: 020 7149 6239

Charles Stanley & Co offer a preferential charity share-dealing rate to charities. This rate can reduce the overall commission charges by up to 75%, thereby significantly increasing the value of our gift.

We are aware that the shares may be held either as certificates, or via a nominee name. Charles Stanley are equally happy to deal with either form of registration. Please contact them if you have any queries about the share sales.

Sale of property and land

We recommend that the Personal Representatives obtain the recommendations of at least two reputable Estate Agents when determining a property’s Probate value.

When an agent is chosen, please forward a copy of the sales particulars for our file.

It would help if the Personal Representative could investigate whether the property/land has any development potential. This is to give the Executors time, if necessary, to appropriate the property into the name of the charitable beneficiaries prior to sale, to utilise the charitable exemption from Capital Gains Tax.

As and when a suitable offer is received, please provide the Agents’ written recommendation of acceptance for our records.

Capital gains tax

In a rising market or where other factors have significantly increased the value of property/land over and above the Probate value, there is the potential for HMRC to raise an assessment for Capital Gains Tax (CGT).

Please can the personal representatives advise in good time if there is potential for a CGT liability so that we can:

assist in avoiding the needless incursion of CGT
provide assistance with the Deed of Appropriation, if required
organise a Section 119 Valuation, if appropriate
Please note the Executors only need the consent of the residuary beneficiaries to appropriate and the Deed of Appropriation only needs to be signed by the Executors as Bare Trustees.

Income tax

As a registered charity, we are able to reclaim from the HMRC all income tax paid during the administration of the estate.

This includes our share of tax paid on bank and building society interest. A tax deduction certificate on form R185 (Estate Income) should therefore be supplied at the end of the administration.

Please also provide any income tax calculations with the estate accounts.

We are more than happy to provide assistance, if needed, in preparing the required certificates.

Please note, we cannot claim back tax on dividend payments.

If you have any questions please contact Liz Parry, Legacy Manager at Liz.Parry@theros.org.uk or 01761 473261