An organisation that has helped over 2000 charities to benefit from charitable gifting through wills has reached a landmark moment with over £50m pledged through its platform this year.
Freewills, which is an online, solicitor-checked service, allowing people to create their own bespoke, fully legal will, for free, says that this is already up 14% on 2023, with December (often a busy time for legacy donations) still to be factored in.
Earlier this year, Freewills broke through the 100,000 mark in terms of helping people to write their wills for free, whilst leaving a legacy to causes they care about. Those causes have since benefited to the tune of well over £150m thanks to the innovative platform.
Freewills was founded in 2018 by serial entrepreneur Carl Christensen and experienced will writer Jenny Chase with a mission to create a positive impact that benefits both legacy donors and a wide range of charities.
Carl said;
‘There’s no getting away from the fact that right now, charities are struggling post-Budget with the national insurance rises. Hopefully by partnering with Free Wills we can help them to raise additional funds to address these fiscal challenges because there are clearly hundreds of thousands of supporters out there who want to support these charities.
“The power of the major charity brands with their bigger advertising and marketing budgets will often see smaller charities overlooked when it comes to legacy donations but that needn’t be the case. Our platform is unique in that it is free for both the donors and the charities and it is just a very simple process – indeed, most simple wills can be completed online with us from the comfort of the sofa in less than 15 minutes.”
Carl believes that the popularity of the platform (100,000+ wills written to date) is down to its accessibility in terms of time and cost and that it is open to people of all ages and offers helpful step by step guidance.
Freewills’ “Gifts in Wills Service” which is completely free to UK registered charities.
Freewills was built with extensive input from will writing experts, is 100% free and it is even possible to create a new will to replace an old one, with no charge to do this.
Freewills is a full member of The Society Of Will Writers and every single Will is checked, vetted and approved by an experienced practising solicitor.
Carl Christensen concludes;
“Legacy pledges are becoming ever more important to charities and we work with some of the smallest good causes to national and even international charities to make it as easy as possible for their supporters to leave a legacy.
‘Some estimates suggest that over 60% of British adults, a staggering 31 million adults, don’t have a will. We’re trying to change that incredible statistic and help these great causes as we do so. Christmas is a traditional time of giving, so here’s hoping that this year sees more charities making legacy donations simpler to receive. If they want to do that with us, it is free..”
