Legacies

A gift in your Will provides a lasting legacy, a wonderful way to enable the Museum to continue to delight and inform visitors for generations to come. It creates both an immediate and a lasting effect and is vital to our future.

It is usually a lot more straightforward than people think. There is more than one way to do it too. So you can make sure your Will does exactly what you want it to and honours your wishes.

Ways to leave a gift to charity

A pecuniary gift – this is a specific amount of money decided by you

A residuary gift – this is a percentage of your estate after other legacies, inheritance tax and expenses have been paid. Residuary gifts are extremely helpful because they tend to be inflation-proof, being a percentage rather than a specific sum

A specific gift – when personal possessions such as property, works of art, stocks and shares are left

Legacies to the Captain Cook Memorial Museum are exempt from inheritance tax as the Museum is a registered charity.

How to leave a legacy

If you have previously made a Will, you may ask your solicitor to add a Codicil to include a legacy. You may like to suggest the following wording relating to the Museum:

Pecuniary legacy:

"I give to the Cook Museum Trust of Grape Lane, Whitby, North Yorkshire YO22 4BA (Registered Charity No. 517546) the sum of £......... (amount in figures and words) for its general charitable purposes absolutely and I declare that the receipt of the Treasurer for the time being of the Museum shall be a good and sufficient discharge to my Executors."

Residuary legacy:

"I give all/a share of (please state fraction or percentage) of the residue of the estate to the Cook Museum Trust of Grape Lane, Whitby, North Yorkshire YO22 4BA (Registered Charity No. 517546) for its general charitable purposes absolutely and I declare that the receipt of the Treasurer for the time being of the Museum shall be a good and sufficient discharge to my Executors."

Acceptance in Lieu:

The Acceptance in Lieu scheme enables UK taxpayers to transfer important works of art and heritage objects to the nation while settling inheritance tax. The receiving museum incurs no cost, and the art or cultural object remains in the UK and accessible to visitors.

If you have already included a legacy to the Museum in your Will, please accept our most heartfelt thanks!