Making a bequest to the Society

Please help us to continue assisting homeless and displaced Great Danes by including us in your final plans.

It is a simple matter to include a legacy to the Great Dane Adoption Society & Trust Fund in your will.

This can be done as a bequest (included in the wording of the will) or as a 'codicil' (added to a previously drawn-up will). Please read on for help and guidance on the simplest ways to use your will to help the Gentle Giants of the Dog World.

If you haven't drawn up a will, you should do so as soon as possible.

At the cheapest end of the market, you can buy a 'do it yourself' will from stationers (Rymans or W.H. Smith), where you only need to fill in the blanks, sign, date and have witnessed. This method is fine for straightforward cases where there are few bequests and no complicated trust structures.

The best way is to contact a solicitor. Don't be shy, telephone a couple of local solicitors if you don't already know one and ask for the approximate cost to draw up a will. From there on, let them guide you through the procedure. That's what they are there for!

Oh yes, ……...and while considering who and what to include, please remember the Great Dane Adoption Society and all the good work they do for our favourite dogs.

To include a bequest to GDAS in a new or re-drafted will, you can include a pecuniary bequest (a particular sum of money), or a gift in kind (jewellery, a property or piece of land), or a residuary bequest (the gift of all or part of your estate, after other legacies, bequests and debts).

To include any kind of bequest to GDAS, by adding a codicil to your will and therefore leaving the remaining provisions untouched, we suggest the following as an example of the wording:

"This is a codicil made by me, (name) of (address) to my Will, dated (date). I give (state details of the type and content of the bequest) to the Great Dane Adoption Society, for its charitable purposes and I direct that the confirmed receipt of same from the Chairman, Treasurer or other authorised officer shall be a valid and appropriate form of discharge. In all other respects I confirm my Will dated (original date)."

For further help with making or changing a will please contact our Treasurer at treasurer@danes.org.uk