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How to Leave Money or Property to the Mills Archive

Although these notes are written for UK residents, most of the material is relevant to those in other countries.

Your help can make a difference

The Mills Archive Trust is a registered charity dedicated to protecting historical and contemporary evidence of mills and milling and assuring future public access to this valuable material. We need to invest substantial amounts to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Archive and your support can help bring this about. The Mills Archive Trust relies heavily on those with an interest in mills to help us in our efforts. Your help will allow us to fund vital work that is so important.

The work of the Mills Archive is immensely varied, covering education, cataloguing, conservation and research as well as providing a physical centre and Internet access for researchers and the public to use. All of this helps us to raise the importance of traditional mills and milling to our heritage. The Mills Archive is funded by private donations and by income derived from any endowments we may receive.

Legacies

As a registered charity, the Mills Archive cannot continue its important work without the support of people who share our aims and ideals. There are many ways in which legacies could be used to support the work of the Archive. Legacies take many forms, the most common being a legacy to a specific charity for its general purposes. We ask all those with an interest in mills and milling to consider how they could benefit the Mills Archive Trust by making a Will or adding a Codicil to an existing Will. If you intend to leave us a legacy, suitable wording for pecuniary and residuary legacies and for specific bequests is indicated in the boxes below.

A Pecuniary Legacy mentions a specific sum but suffers from the disadvantage that its value will be eaten away by inflation. Although we welcome such legacies, we would ask you to review the amount from time to time in case it becomes insufficient to achieve what you had intended.

I bequeath to the Trustees of The Mills Archive Trust (registered charity no 1091534) the sum of ............. for furthering the aims and the objectives of the Mills Archive

A Residuary Legacy would leave the Mills Archive the whole or a share of your remaining assets once other bequests have been met. This approach is particularly beneficial; it is simple and tax efficient, and will rise in value as your estate increases. In addition you do not need to quantify the sum nor take into account inflation when you draw up your Will. Residuary legacies offer us the greatest benefits and as a donation to a registered charity, can help you minimise the impact of Inheritance Tax.

I bequeath to the Trustees of The Mills Archive Trust (registered charity no 1091534), [one third of] the residue of my estate ............

Leaving us your collection

We are always grateful to be considered as the recipient for a collection; generous donations have created our existing Collection. Potential benefactors are encouraged to discuss any bequest, if necessary in total confidence, at an early stage with the Chairman of the Trustees who can provide advice on our collection policy.

A Specific Bequest would leave the Mills Archive particular items or collections, either for us to enhance our own holdings or to sell to raise funds. We believe in keeping collections together although we may dispose of material that is not considered suitable for conservation. In addition if published material is duplicated in our collection we may sell it to raise funds for the archive.

To help both your executors and the Mills Archive we recommend that a description of the contents of the collection to be bequeathed should be made. If needed, we are always happy to help to draw up the list. Depending on the nature of the collection we may also ask you to sign one of our forms assigning us copyright. This will allow us for example to publish photographs in our digital catalogues and make them available on the Internet. It is helpful if the Trustees can have a copy for our files of that part of your Will that specifically refers to any bequest and of any related list of items.

If you propose to leave an item or a collection to the Mills Archive the preferred wording is:

I bequeath to the Trustees of The Mills Archive Trust (registered charity no 1091534), my .........., together with any relevant intellectual property rights, to be deposited in or otherwise used at the discretion of the Trustees for the benefit of the Mills Archive.

Donations

All gifts to the Mills Archive, no matter how small, are gratefully received and acknowledged. You can make a donation by cheque or postal order made payable to the Mills Archive Trust and sent to the address below. Signing a standing order (bank account details below) for a regular donation of as little as £5 a month would help us plan for the future. If you wish your regular donation to be increased at no cost to yourself, signing a Gift Aid Certificate (we can send you one or just email us saying you wish any donation to be regarded as a Gift Aid Donation) will enable us to reclaim the basic tax, thus increasing the value of your donation to us.

How your gift can be honoured

The Trustees will respect the wishes of those who want their intentions to remain confidential, but if you agree we would appreciate the chance to acknowledge your generosity during your lifetime, for example in our literature and on our web site. 
Address for correspondence:
The Mills Archive Trust
13 Littlestead Close
Reading
RG4 6UA
Telephone 0118 9478 284

Thank you for helping the Mills Archive

Bank Account: Alliance & Leicester, Girobank plc, Bootle, Merseyside, GIR 0AA Sort code 72-00-00 Account 321695488

These notes are provided in good faith. If in doubt, always consult a solicitor

Text and images © The Mills Archive, 2002-2003