Suggested Wording for your Solicitors

We recommend that you seek professional advice when drawing up a will, and the suggested wording below is intended to help your solicitor or professional advisor with specific points relating to the Church.

A legacy of a share in your residuary estate to a church might be simply expressed in a will as: I give x% of my residuary estate free of all taxes to the Parochial Church Council of St Richard's, Mytown in the diocese of Chichester and its successors for its general purposes, and I declare that the receipt of an officer of the Council shall be a sufficient discharge to my executors.

A pecuniary legacy for a fixed amount of money given to a charity such as the Church and Community Fund for the benefit of parishes across the nation might be: I give to the Church and Community Fund of Church House, Great Smith Street London SW1P 3NZ, the sum of £NNNN free of all taxes for its general purposes, and I declare that the receipt of an officer of the charity shall be a sufficient discharge to my executors.

Notes 
1. In the days of handwritten or typewritten wills, any amendments to an existing will were done by writing a separate codicil (amendment) document. In these days of word processors, most solicitors will simply produce a new up-to-date document to sign, as this is cheaper and more secure. 
2. Legacies to the church should be made payable to the Parochial Church Council (PCC) as the legally accountable body, not to the Incumbent and Churchwardens. 
3. If the donor would prefer the PCC to use part of their legacy for some particular purpose in the church, they are advised to write a non-binding letter to their executors setting out their wishes, and store it with the will. The PCC will then consider their request, and will normally do their best to meet it in the light of the church's circumstances after their death. 
4. If there are several churches in a parish, legacies can be restricted to a particular church by saying something like "for the general ministry purposes connected with St Swithun, Mydistrict". 
5. PCCs are legally excepted from having to register with the Charity Commission, so do not have a unique charity registration number. The current exception is granted under section 3(5) of the Charities Act 1993 by the Charities (Exception from Registration and Accounts) Regulations 1996 (no 180) as amended by The Charities (Exception from Registration) (Amendment) Regulations 2002 (no 1598). 
6. A solicitor may want to include phrases in a legacy to your church like "to be applied both as to capital and income"; or "for such purposes specified in the Parochial Church (Powers) Measure 1956 (Section 5) as are charitable". Solicitors may suggest other wordings of charitable legacies to suit particular personal circumstances and wishes. 
7. Remember that witnesses to a will or codicil must be independent and cannot receive any benefit. So if a church is going to benefit from a legacy, the document should not be witnessed by any of the clergy or parish officers.