Information for PCCs

Legacies are a lifeline for our parishes. Church of England parishes receive over 4,000 legacies each year - gifts to finance mission projects, maintain beautiful church buildings and grow faithful communities. These gifts make a real difference to the future work of the Church - as regular giving often concentrates on maintaining the existing mission and ministry.
Peterborough Higham Ferrers

Giving through legacies

The national church has created a booklet PCC Guide: Encouraging Giving through Legacies, click here to order free copies for a PCC meeting

There is a national suite of parish materials including legacy leaflets, bookmarks and a poster. These resources can be ordered free of charge through Christian Publishing and Outreach (CPO), please click here.

There is also the option to customise a legacy leaflet and bookmark for a small cost through CPO, please click here.

Free online will writing service launched

The Church of England has partnered with Farewill, the UK’s favourite will writer, to offer a free online will writing service. Making a will and keeping it updated is an important part of Christian Stewardship and with Farewill individuals can do it from the comfort of their home, for free and in less than 30 minutes. Click here to get started  

To find out Why every Christian should have a Will and to order free leaflets for your church, please click here.

Encouraging Gifts in Wills to your Church

  1. Put out legacy leaflets and other informative literature in your church, click here to order free copies
  2. Make information available on your church website and point visitors to the national legacy website
  3. Share a story of how the church has benefited from a legacy in the past, click here to find out more  
  4. Use the Church of England’s online free will writing scheme, for more information click here

Further Links:

Guidance on Receiving a legacy

If a Parochial Church Council (PCC) is a named beneficiary in a will, the PCC are responsible for liaising with the Executor to administer the gift correctly, and ensure they use the funds for their charitable Christian Ecclesiastical purposes.

Please click here to access our online information and guidance notes.

PCC Meeting following a legacy notification

Once you have received notification of a legacy, it is a good idea to bring the PCC together to notify them of the gift. We have produced this resource to help set out what some of the PCC’s principles should be following a legacy notification and the process of prayerfully considering the different possibilities of a specific legacy.

Please click here to view our Legacy Notification Meeting guidance notes.

PCC Guide to Inheritance Tax

Legacy gifts are exempt from Inheritance Tax (IHT). We’ve produced a two page resource explaining what IHT is and how it applies to a legacy left to your PCC.

Please click here to view our guidance note.

Guide for churches: Code of Fundraising Practice

As with all the ways we encourage giving within our churches, it is important that all churches abide by the Code of Fundraising Practice.

You must take into account the needs of a giver who may be in vulnerable circumstances or need extra support to make an informed decision. If you suspect that a giver lacks the capacity to make a decision, they should not be asked for a gift. If you discover this lack of capacity at a later point, the gift must be returned. 

We have produced a simple guidance document for Churches, which highlights the values underpinned within the Code and some of the key standards that apply to all giving.

Click here to view our Guide for Churches: Code of Fundraising Practice