Your Legacy, Exeter’s Future: Leave a gift in your Will

Anne Van Geyzel was a local Exeter resident and former Secretary to Vice-Chancellors Sir David Harrison and Sir Geoffrey Holland until her retirement. When she passed away in February 2017, she left a gift of £1,000 to support the maintenance of the University grounds. Thanks to this legacy, 25 new trees were planted at Birks Grange. These trees contribute to biodiversity and allow University buildings to sit in, rather that dominate, the landscape.

Connie White, who worked as a consultant and Registrar at the Royal Cornwall Hospital Turst, left a donation to the University of Exeter Medical School – likely to top £2 million – from her estate. The money will fund bursaries for medical students from the region from disadvantaged backgrounds. A further sum was left to Plymouth Medical School for those who choose to study fascio maxillary surgery.

To recognise this donation the Constance Fozzard Clinical Skills Suite on the University of Exeter’s Truro campus was formally renamed at an event on Wednesday 12 July 2023 hosted by our Vice-Chancellor, Professor Lisa Roberts.

The naming of the Clinical Skills Suite honours the accomplishments and generosity of Connie, a Cornwall resident who led an illustrious and influential career in Medicine. She died after a short illness in 2021, aged 88. When Connie worked at the Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust she practiced as Miss Connie Fozzard and her legacy states the formation of the Fozzard Bursary Fund which will ensure talented students can study in the South-West and realise their true potential.

Find out more about Connie and her legacy.

The Niklaus Fund, originally set up in memory of Professor Robert Niklaus (pictured) to support French at Exeter, received a generous legacy donation from Professor Michael Cartwright (French, 1960) which has since had various positive impacts on the Modern Languages department at the University of Exeter. As well as providing funding for travel bursaries and the Niklaus-Cartwright lecture, the legacy donation has provided funding to support three PhD scholars, including French Literature student, Edward Mills. Edward said “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity, to investigate various French literary texts and to make an original contribution to knowledge in a subject that I have loved for many years”.

The memory of Philip Booth, a committed and generous supporter of the University, is continuing thanks to his decision to bequeath a legacy to the University of Exeter in 2015. Philip generously left a significant gift to the University to enhance the study of Mathematics, Physics and Engineering at Exeter, taking his total donations towards Exeter to £1,000,000. There could be no more fitting use of his generous legacy than in the development of the Living Systems Institute building, the centre of interdisciplinary research which brings together biologists, mathematicians, physicists, biomedical scientists and engineers to look at treating the world’s most serious diseases. In recognition of his exceptional generosity ‘The Philip Booth Seminar Room’ located within the Institute is a space for inter-disciplinary research, exchange and teaching.

When he passed away in 2016, Stuart Handley left a gift of £1.3million to support the Exeter Forever Fund, an endowment which provides unrestricted funding to support Exeter in perpetuity.

Stuart’s generosity means that Exeter can support vital projects in areas such as dementia, diabetes and marine plastics, both now and in the future. It will also ensure talented students have the opportunity to come to Exeter and realise their full potential, irrespective of their financial background.

Stuart was a Physics student at Exeter in the late 1960s, completing his undergraduate degree in 1967 and then returning for his PhD in 1971. He was a committed and loyal supporter of the University, volunteering his time as a member of the Alumni Annual Fund Disbursement Panel, and making regular gifts to support student societies as well as sporting projects. In recognition of Stuart’s legacy and long-term support, a teaching space in the Physics building was named in his honour at a special event. The Stuart Handley Teaching Laboratory is designed as a space for faculty and students to be inspired by learning. A group of Stuart’s friends, including alumni who graduated alongside Stuart, joined staff from the Physics department at the opening.

Leaving a gift in your Will to the University of Exeter is tax efficient, as we are an exempt charity. Gifts are typically deducted from the value of your estate before inheritance tax is calculated. By donating 10% of your Will to charity, your inheritance tax may reduce further from 40% to 36% on the taxable part of your ‘estate’.

If you are living overseas you can still easily leave a gift in your Will to the University. We recommend, however, that in all cases you take independent legal advice to ensure your Will meets the laws and regulations in the UK or your country of domicile and residence.

Nominating the University as a beneficiary of your pension fund could also provide tax benefits.

We recommend you seek independent professional advice to find out more – and it’s helpful to check with HMRC rules on inheritance tax too: https://www.gov.uk/inheritance-tax

There are several ways you can leave a Gift in your Will to the University: 

Residuary legacy

The whole, or a specific portion or percentage, of an estate left over after making other specified legacies (typically to family members, friends and other charitable causes also specified in your Will). This is the most valuable form of legacy donation, as its value is unaffected by inflation.

Pecuniary legacy

The gift of a specific sum of money. The gift of a specific sum of money. The value of this type of legacy will decrease over time, however you may wish to Index-it in order to preserve its value despite inflation.

Reversionary legacy

A gift that is left to another beneficiary first, but that reverts back to the University, usually after the initial beneficiary has also died. Couples, parents, or those with dependents often choose this type of legacy. The gains and interest on the sum is available to be spent by the beneficiary/ies during their lifetime and then the capital is given to the University once there are no longer any surviving beneficiaries.

Contingent legacy

A gift which depends on the occurrence of an event, so is not guaranteed to be realised e.g. only if the donor survives other named beneficiaries.

Specific legacy – items and possessions

Some people choose to donate items which may be used by the University or that could be sold and proceeds used to support the University, such as art collections, rare books, property, land, shares, life insurances or pensions.

We can work with you to put your legacy wishes into words. If you have an area in mind that you would like to support, please get in touch.

For unrestricted gifts, suggested wording for making a gift in your Will is provided below.

"I give to the University of Exeter, Northcote House, The Queen's Drive, Exeter EX4 4QJ (exempt charity number X9538)...

 The residue of my estate

or     {a percentage} of the residue of my estate

or     the sum of £{amount} free of tax*

or     {specific item}

...for its generable charitable purposes, and I declare that the receipt of a proper officer of the University shall be a sufficient discharge to my executors."

* Please contact the University of Exeter should you wish to protect the future value of your legacy via index-linking.