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Downe House School

Information for Downe House Community Members Only

Message from the School

Legacy gifts have played, and continue to play, an important role in the history of Downe House. These are deeply personal donations and have provided bursaries, restored historic buildings, and improved the school site. A gift to Downe House in your will plays a significant role in shaping our school and to recognise your generosity, you’ll be invited to join the Palmer Society. 

  • Did you know that our School has a charitable foundation?
  • Did you know that 1 in 10 of our bursaries is funded by a legacy gift?
  • Did you know you can leave our school even 1% so that those closest to you inherit 99%? You can of course leave more if you want to.

Through our partnership with adeus, we can help protect your legacy, and that of our school. 

The Palmer Society

The Palmer Society is named after Elizabeth Palmer, a great benefactor of the School who was closely associated with it all her life. She joined the School as a pupil in 1920, and then returned firstly as a member of the office staff and later as Miss Medley’s first Vice-Principal. Following her retirement, Elizabeth continued to open her doors at Fencewood House to members of staff both for regular, convivial dinners and also for staff accommodation. On her death in 1998 she left the house to the School. It is fitting that our legacy society, honouring those whose thoughtful and forward-thinking gifts play an integral part in the School’s future, should be named in her memory. 

Anyone who has pledged a legacy gift to Downe House is welcome to join the Palmer Society. Every year, members are invited to special events at the College. 

Find out more about the Palmer Society here: https://www.downehouse.net/support-us/leave-a-legacy/ 

A message from Cynthia (DH1964)

"Downe is a thriving institution, still with Olive Willis’ fundamental principles of consideration for others and the pursuit of personal initiatives.

Music was a constant companion during my time at School, whether it was instrumental, orchestral, singing or the frequent visits of guest musicians for concerts. History, Maths, French and German also stood out for me. It has all given me a lifelong appetite for learning and a passionate conviction of the value of a good and varied education. Gratitude for my education and friendships is my inducement to leaving a legacy, thereby helping the School to inspire curiosity for learning in future generations. Downe’s developing of skills and confidence in young people is so necessary for the initiative of future leadership, much needed by our world today."

Cynthia Rich (DH 1965)

What are the benefits of using adeus to leave a gift in my will?

Through our partnership with adeus, Downe House community members receive an adeus Will at no cost. You will also receive complimentary access to the adeus Premium Digital Vault for 12 months.

An adeus Will is available at no cost to Downe House community members resident in England and Wales, and is subsidised for staff members. Our online will process will assess your needs, and if you have more complex requirements, we can assist with a subsidised will through our partner solicitors. Your signed will can be stored in your adeus Digital Vault, and you have the same complimentary access to the Premium features of adeus.

We have created a dedicated ‘Leaving a Legacy’ webpage to provide some initial guidance. The webpage provides an overview of the different types of legacy and example phraseology, it also explains the tax advantage associated with leaving a gift in your Will. Please visit https://www.downehouse.net/support-us/leave-a-legacy/ for details. We would advise that you take further guidance from your legal and tax advisor to determine the best option for you.

How do I leave a gift in my will?

As a registered charity, any gift to the school is tax-free, and could also reduce the amount of Inheritance Tax paid on the rest of your estate.

In an adeus Will you can leave:

  • Pecuniary: a specific sum of money.
  • Specific Gift: A non-cash bequest.
  • Residuary: A specific share of your estate.

You will be prompted at the relevant stages of the will creation process if you would like to leave a gift. The school name, address and registered charity number will be pre-populated, simply enter in the monetary amount, item description, or percentage in the relevant field, adeus will take care of the rest.

Consent to share my information

Upon completion of a Will by a Downe House Community Member, adeus may include the name of the Community Member and certain terms and form of a specific Will in the Report that is disclosed to the School. To the extent that a Community Member informs adeus that it does not consent to such sharing of its personal data and/or the information of a Will, adeus shall only share anonymized and aggregated data with the School, and no personal or specific information regarding the will.

For more information, please refer to the following article: Legitimate Interest 

Inheritance Tax: Recommended Reading

The information included here is for information purposes only. We cannot provide advice on specific inheritance tax or other related implications of leaving a gift. We recommend you review the latest HMRC Guidance on leaving gifts to charities, and the potential Inheritance Tax reliefs in the following HMRC guidance pages:

https://www.gov.uk/donating-to-charity/leaving-gifts-to-charity-in-your-will 

https://www.gov.uk/inheritance-tax  



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