Where there’s a will, there’s a way to help your favourite charity – and also sleep easy at night

Jo Dallas urges everyone to sort out their affairs before it’s too late

Every autumn you see the same headline – that around half of us don’t have a will. In Scotland, the figure is slightly higher than other parts of the UK at 53 per cent. So why are we stuck at this figure, with a sizable proportion of the adult population destined to die intestate?

I pose this question both as the legacy co-ordinator at Christian Aid Scotland and a parent who finally got my act together to sort out my own will. Christian Aid is part of Will Aid, the long-established charity will writing scheme which runs every November.

Will Aid started 29 years ago – in a nutshell participating solicitors waive their fee and instead ask for a voluntary donation. Money raised to nine charities, including Christian Aid. The British Red Cross, Age UK and SCIAF are among the other well-known charities to benefit. Around 200 solicitors across Scotland will take part this year and they are already taking appointments.

Will Aid offers that convenient little nudge that we often need. It certainly prompted my husband and I to make our wills a few years ago. Having two young children I was quite anxious that we had no legally binding document setting out who would look after them should the unthinkable happen.

Yes, they had godparents, but it’s not the same as setting out who would be their legal guardians and responsible for their daily emotional and financial security until they fly the nest.

When I heard about Will Aid and realised a solicitor in Stirling, where I live, was taking part, I booked an appointment.

It really didn’t take long, we happily wrote a cheque, knowing it was going to the nine Will Aid charities and we slept easy that night knowing that we finally had a professionally-written will. I couldn’t believe it had been on my ‘to do’ list for so long.

So why do so many people, including parents with young children, bury their heads in the sand when it comes to making a will? According to the Will Aid survey, the biggest reason is that they’ve just not got round to it, with the second reason that they think they don’t have anything to leave behind. Third on the list, as Edinburgh solicitor Mary Mcqueen highlights, is that we don’t like to think about the fact that, one day, we will die.

“Nobody likes to think about death and not being here for their loved ones but everyone should have a will. It’s even more important if you have children, own a property or a business, or have savings and investments.

“We have unfortunately seen what happens when people don’t put down their wishes in black and white, such as a partner being disinherited in favour of an estranged spouse or, if you remarry, your children from the earlier marriage being disinherited.

“Many people don’t realise that if you don’t leave a will, the law decides how your estate is passed on. If you have family that rely on you finan-

cially, then don’t leave it circumspect, make sure you decide what will happen when you die”.

Mary is a partner at Mcqueen Legal, which has offices in Edinburgh and Gorebridge and her firm is taking part in Will Aid this November for the fourth consecutive year. Last year they raised more than £6000.

She said: “For us Will Aid is an opportunity to give back to the community. Our solicitors give their time by writing wills for clients for free and at the same time our clients get to support very worthwhile charities.”

Last year, Will Aid raised £1.25 million. The suggested voluntary donation for a single (basic) Will is £95. For Christian Aid this donation could have a transformational impact in one of the 40 countries where we currently work, tackling poverty and social inequality. For example, it could pay for 100 cacao tree saplings in Bolivia, enabling indigenous communities in remote areas of the Amazon to grow and sell wild cocoa, in turn creating sustainable livelihoods. Christian Aid has worked in Bolivia for 30 years and in the Amazon region for 20.

Our work in the Amazon, through local partners, is respectful of the lush rainforest and mindful of climate change, so we’re working with communities to harness new ecotechnologies like solar water pumps, solar ovens and solar panels. Donate £125 through Will Aid and this would be enough to pay for a solar panel for a family home.

So let Will Aid be your nudge this November and you can sleep easy, perhaps even dreaming of Amazonian chocolate.

Find out more at www.willaid.org.uk/will-makers/find-a-solicitor or www.christianaid.org.uk/gifts-in-wills/will-aid Jo Dallas, legacy co-ordinator, Christian Aid Scotland.