Legacy Giving Guide
Thank you for your interest in making a gift to Jesus College in your Will.
If you have remembered Jesus College in your Will, we would be delighted to include you as a member of the 1571 Society. Since launching in 2018, more than 150 alumni have become members and we are pleased to host the annual Legacy Luncheon in College, as well as other Society events to recognise this special group. The 1571 Society was formed to acknowledge and celebrate your commitment to College and we always look forward to welcoming new members. ❖
Membership information
Notification of current intentions
You can help us by letting the Development Team know your current intentions to leave a legacy to Jesus College. Any statement you make is not legally binding and there is no need to provide additional detail. Your 1571 status is simply a pledge of your current intentions and allows College to recognise your support in this way.
We understand that leaving a legacy is a very personal gift, however if prefer to let us know how they plan to support College in the future, please continue to read on.
Confirmation of legacy plans
The easiest way to confirm your legacy plans is to fill out the legacy pledge form and return it to a member of the Development Team. The 1571 Society is a part of the College’s patron recognition scheme and this step will allow us to recognise your commitment as a legator to College in our upcoming donor recognition publications.
A 1571 Society rosette ✾ — an official mark of recognition was first introduced in the Donor Roll in June 2021, and now also used as a mark of recognition on the 1571 Society webpage, honours the dedication of our members who have confirmed Jesus College as a beneficiary in their Wills. This emblem, derived from the marble of College’s Chapel altar, serves as a symbol of your membership and support.
For a comprehensive guide on leaving a legacy to Jesus College please continue reading below but if you prefer a printable document, please click here (to be added). ❖
Legacy Giving Guide
Why are legacies important?
“I have left a legacy to Jesus College because I believe we need more of precisely the sort of integrative thinking that an Oxford education can provide. Funding future bursaries - and targeting them at the things that really matter to me - feels like a good way to help the College rise to these challenges.”
– Dr Leah Tomkins (1983, Classics and Modern Languages)
“We both, fortunately, received student grants and assistance from charities (in part funded by legacies). While providing first for our children, we wish to contribute to the wealth of opportunities offered by a community we treasure and from which we have gained lifetime benefits. Our bequest to Jesus College is a simple, rewarding, tax-efficient part of our estate planning.”
–Keith Cotterill (1981, PPE)
and Helen Cotterill, née Wright (1980, Engineering)
Since 1571, Jesus College has benefitted from the generosity of its many benefactors and supporters who helped lay the foundation for the College we know today. Legacies have always played a meaningful part in the College’s story and have shaped our over 450-year history.
Thanks to the generosity of our alumni and friends who have come before, life-changing opportunities have been created for future Jesus students. Legacies have notably endowed bursaries and scholarships, and we have recently been able to make tremendous strides in endowing tutorial posts, helping us safeguard the teaching structure that makes an Oxford education unique. These are just a few examples of how a legacy gift can make a difference and unrestricted gifts enable the College to use the funds to support its most pressing needs at any given time.
We owe a huge debt of gratitude to our legators and their families for their support; many significant College projects would not have been be possible without their generosity and thoughtfulness. We are immensely grateful to those considering or who have made a gift to Jesus College in their Wills. ❖
Legacy Giving Guide
How do I leave a legacy to Jesus College?
Making a Will does not need not be expensive and it is a thoughtful way to make a significant contribution to your College after bequests to your loved ones. The simplest way to include a charity is to write a new Will. First, you will need to have the College’s details (address and charity number) to hand. We next advise that you seek guidance from a solicitor or professional Will writer who can help compose this document for you. If you have already made a Will then it is very simple to add a codicil naming Jesus College as a beneficiary. A codicil is signed and witnessed in the same way as your original Will and is often used as a way to make simple amendments like adding a charity, changing a gift amount, or adding an executor to the existing document.
Making an unrestricted gift in your Will is the greatest way for your legacy to safeguard the future of the College. It enables us to react to changing priorities and to direct your support where it will make the most difference to Jesus at any given time. It is also possible to designate your legacy to support a specific purpose or fund.
We would particularly like to encourage legators to consider leaving a certain percentage of their estates to College, thereby reducing the risk that the value of the legacy will be eroded by inflation. It is worth also bearing in mind that a legacy can be drawn from the residue of an estate, once other calls on the estate are met (a residuary legacy), or it can revert to the College only after the death of someone else (a reversionary legacy). We advise seeking professional legal advice on these decisions to make sure your wishes are met.
Legacy Giving Guide
Is leaving a legacy tax-efficient?
Legacies to Jesus College are exempt from Inheritance Tax and simple to put into effect. Inheritance Tax is not currently payable on any bequests to a charity; Jesus is a registered charity (number 1137435).
Current UK legislation rewards a gift of 10% of a deceased’s estate to charity by reducing the rate of Inheritance Tax paid on an estate from 40% to 36%, so such a gift would work to the benefit of the deceased’s estate and Jesus College.
Example 1:
An alumna dies in 2021. Her total estate is worth £1,000,000. She has her own and her husband’s ‘nil rate band’, which means that £650,000 of her estate is exempt from Inheritance Tax. She decides to leave her estate to her children. [Please note these examples are for illustrative purposes only, and every person’s estate will be different].
Inheritance tax will be at the normal rate of 40%.
To calculate the Inheritance Tax:
Value of estate £1,000,000
Nil rate bands (£650,000)
Amount subject to Inheritance Tax £350,000
Inheritance Tax (40%) £140,000
This means that the total amount left to June’s children will be £860,000.
Example 2:
An alumna dies in 2021. Her total estate is worth £1,000,000. Again, she has a nil-rate band of £650,000. June decides to leave £40,000 to charity, and the remainder to her children. [Please note these examples are for illustrative purposes only, and every person’s estate will be different].
Inheritance tax will be at the reduced rate of 36%.
To calculate the Inheritance Tax:
Value of estate £1,000,000~
Nil rate bands (£650,000)
Gift to charity (£40,000)
Amount subject to Inheritance Tax £310,000
Inheritance Tax (36%) £111,600
The total amount left to June’s children will be:
Value of estate £1,000,000
Inheritance Tax (£111,600)
Charitable gift (£40,000)
Gift to the children £848,400
Although the alumna has given £40,000 to charity, it has only cost her children £11,600. The main cost of the gift is borne by the Revenue.
Legacy Giving Guide
Which kind of legacy is right for you?
There are different forms a legacy can take. The following list can be used as guide to select a legacy type that meets your requirements.
RESIDUARY LEGACY: you can leave the College the residue of your estate or a share of it: the College receives what is left when other bequests along with taxes and the costs of settling the estate have been paid.
PECUNIARY BEQUEST: also known as a monetary gift, this is a simple legacy of a specified sum of money to a named beneficiary. Its value could be significantly eroded by inflation over time, so we do hope that if you chose this type of legacy that you might review it periodically.
REVERSIONARY LEGACY: this enables you to leave a life interest in your estate to a dependent or other beneficiary during their lifetime, after which it reverts to the College.
CONDITIONAL LEGACY: this addresses the possibility that if none of your named dependents survive you, your net estate will be left to the College.
SPECIFIC OR NON-MONETARY LEGACY: Specific gifts, such as property, valuables or stocks, shares and other securities can also be bequeathed to the College instead of money.
Legacy Giving Guide
What wording should I use?
For writing your Will, we advise that you contact a solicitor and seek expert legal guidance. The following wording is offered only as a starting point for a draft of this kind of document.
Example for a Pecuniary Gift
“I give the sum of £ _____________ (in figures and words) to Jesus College Oxford (Registered Charity No. 1137435). I direct that the receipt of the Principal and Estates Bursar for the time being of the College, shall be a sufficient discharge to my executors.”
Example for a Residuary Gift
“I give the whole (or a _______________ share)* of the residue of my estate to Jesus College Oxford (Registered Charity No. 1137435). I direct that the receipt of the Principal and Estates Bursar for the time being of the College, shall be a sufficient discharge to my executors.”
*For example: one-half, one-third, 10%
We also recommend visiting the following websites to refer to these helpful model clauses provided by STEP and HMRC.
Legacy Giving Guide
Planned giving from the U.S. and Canada
If you are a U.S. or Canadian taxpayer, Oxford Planned Giving offers a number of tax-efficient ways to make a bequest to the College.
The University of Oxford North American Office can advise on estate planning and legacy giving for alumni of Jesus College in the USA or Canada. For more information on how to make a legacy to Jesus College from the U.S. please visit www.oxford.planyourlegacy.org.
Contact us
If you would like to discuss making provision for Jesus College in your will, or if you would like to discuss the effects your gift may have for the College, please do not hesitate to contact us. A member of our friendly Development Team will be happy to assist you. Letting us know of your intentions is non-binding and is an important way for us to keep in touch.
Jesus College is a charity, no.1137435 and is registered with the Fundraising Regulator, the independent body which sets and maintains the standards for charitable fundraising in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The Development Office, Jesus College
Turl Street, Oxford OX1 3DW, United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)1865 616810
Office Hours: 9:30am – 5:30pm Monday to Friday
Holiday Closure: Please note that the office closes for Christmas, Easter and for all Bank Holidays
General enquiries Email: alumni@jesus.ox.ac.uk
For information on forthcoming 1571 Society events, please visit the alumni events webpage.
