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Planned Giving – Your Legacy to Trinity College

Remembering Trinity in your Will

When you pledge to leave a gift in your will or estate plan, you are leaving a legacy that will support education for future generations. For many alumni, leaving a legacy to Trinity College will become the most enduring gift of all.

After meeting commitments to loved ones and dependants, you may choose to remember other causes that have played a significant part in shaping your life. By notifying us of your intention to remember Trinity, you will be welcomed as a member of the Great Court Circle, Trinity’s legacy society.

To notify Trinity of your provision to include the College in your will, please download and return our Legacy Pledge Form. Completed forms should be emailed to legacies@trin.cam.ac.uk or posted to the Alumni Relations and Development Office. Alumni who reside in America can make provision to include Trinity College in their estate plan by contacting Cambridge in America.

If you have already made your will, but would like to add Trinity College as a beneficiary, you can do so by completing this Codicil Form.

To learn more about leaving a legacy to Trinity College, please email legacies@trin.cam.ac.uk.

The Great Court Circle

The Great Court Circle was founded to celebrate those who decide to remember Trinity in their will. In appreciation for their intended gift, all members are invited to an annual lunch in College, followed by afternoon activities. The Great Court Circle lunch is usually held in April.

Why I Give… Sharon Pollock-Wilkins (2003)

“Going to Trinity changed my life. I will always be grateful to the College, it’s Fellows and benefactors for supporting me both academically and financially when it was most important. By leaving something in my Will, I hope to one day help someone else at the start of their own journey.”

Types of Legacy

Below you will find illustrations of different ways to make your legacy provision. Please use this as a guide only, and speak with your solicitor before making any changes.

Residuary Legacy
Leaving all or part of the residue of your estate after expenses have been deducted and bequests to your loved ones and dependants have been made. This way the real value of the gift you decide to leave is protected.

Pecuniary Legacy
Leaving a specific sum of money which may be linked to the Retail Price Index.

A Reversionary Legacy
Leaving all or part of your assets to trustees which only revert to the College when your loved ones or dependants die, and that beneficiary has the full benefit of the income from it during their lifetime.

Conditional Legacy
Leaving all or part of your estate to an individual, but in the event that they die before you the legacy goes to the College.

A Specific Legacy
Leaving a specified possession to the College which may be in the form of property, valuables, works of art or stocks and shares.

Life Assurance Policy
Making Trinity College the beneficiary of a life assurance policy, payable on death, enabling you to provide for the College during your lifetime.

UK Inheritance Tax

Inheritance Tax is a tax on a person’s estate that is left behind after they have died. The estate includes money, property and possessions. It is a tax on the transfer of assets from one individual to another, owed if the value of the deceased’s estate exceeds the Inheritance Tax Threshold (£325,000).

The standard Inheritance Tax rate is 40%. It’s only charged on the part of the estate that is above the threshold.

Tax relief
You may qualify to pay Inheritance Tax at a reduced rate of 36% if you leave at least 10% of your net estate to charity. For further information, please visit gov.uk/inheritance-tax.

Trinity is recognised as a charity for tax purposes in the United Kingdom. The registered charity number for Trinity College is: 1137604.

The 1209 Society (Cambridge in America)

Established in 1998, The 1209 Society honors and acknowledges the many generous benefactors in the US who recognize the importance of the University of Cambridge and its thirty-one Colleges through their estate planning.

When you notify Cambridge in America that you’ve included Trinity and/or the University in your estate plan it is known as a bequest intention. This is all it takes for us to invite you to become a lifetime member of The 1209 Society.

For further information on The 1209 Society, please visit the Cambridge in America Website.

Contact us

To discuss your legacy gift, or request further information, please contact the Alumni Relations & Development Office.

e: legacies@trin.cam.ac.uk
t: 01223 765748

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