Effective Legacies, our totally revamped (and free) will preparation service is now up and running for those interested in bequeathing to GiveWell’s top charities!
In October 2015, we rolled out the beta version of our Legacy campaign and demand for the product was high. In the short time it was active, almost 50 people created free documents with bequests to GiveWell’s top charities, and many others have expressed interest to do so since we paused the service in December. To get an idea of just how much impact that is, let’s put this in perspective: if a single will among those is executed as written, the project ROI will likely exceed a 1-to-1 ratio. Beyond that, this campaign could be labeled as a significantly effective fundraising method.
Of course, by the very nature of this campaign, we likely won’t know for quite some time just how effective it could be, but we predict these bequests will make a massive impact in the developing world someday, which is why we’ve spent the last few months piecing together an improved legacy campaign to make this free service accessible to as many people as possible.
With Effective Legacies, you fill out a 15-minute form and finish with a professional, legally binding document that will honour your commitments if the unexpected happens. We are excited to announce that our new partnership with LawDepot has made this service even higher quality and quite easy to use. And it’s still free! Feel free to try it out even if you’ve made a will with us before. And of course, tell your friends and family.
Questions? Thoughts? Send them to baxter@charityscience.com.
(Currently this service is only available in Canada, the US, the UK, and Australia at the moment, but we’re working on expanding.)
Hi Bernadette, great question! Thanks for bringing it to my attention that this isn't immediately clear. I'll try to make it more clear on the website.
The reason we have that section there is because oftentimes (based on our previous experience) these characteristics determine the complexity of the document that must be procured. In other words, the more possessions and benefactors a person has, the more paperwork needs to be done, and the more careful they must be about making sure it's done right.
We are therefore in the process of securing partnerships with companies that could provide a more comprehensive service so that those with complex estates can be sure they have everything they need.
I should also add that this element of our Effective Legacies service is still under construction, so we're recommending that people utilize the primary service for now. The one that can be found here: http://www.charityscience.com/create-a-last-will.html
I can't comment on the legality of, for example, a married person's will that was written when they were single, as I believe the laws vary based on location, but I can say it's a good idea to update the document after any major life event.
Hope this answers your question! Let me know if you have any others. :)
That seems reasonable. The advice we've had both specifically and generally from legal people is that a will which appears not to take into account your life circumstances is open to challenge. Certainly in the UK, charitable legacies have been successfully challenged for not taking children into account (even when that appears to have been deliberate). https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jul/28/daughter-wins-164000-decade-long-legal-battle-mother-will-charities
I guess my observation is that almost all people would expect to be in that more complex po... (read more)