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Leave a gift in your will

 

Make your mark 

Including a gift in your Will to King’s College London is a wonderful way to safeguard the future of education. As a charity, we rely on gifts in Wills to support students most in need, drive innovative research and develop ground-breaking discoveries.   

Thank you for considering leaving a gift in your Will to King’s. We would be honoured to help you plan your gift to ensure that your interests and values continue beyond your lifetime by supporting the areas you care about most. 

Choose an area to support 

Leaving a gift in your will allows you to make a lasting impact in the areas that matter to you the most. Whether you choose to support specific initiatives or leave an unrestricted gift to be used where the need is greatest, your generosity will make a difference. 

Examples of areas you can support include: 

  • Unrestricted: Allowing flexibility to support students, research and capital projects, wherever the need arises.  
  • Student Support: Scholarships, bursaries, and hardship funds for those most in need 
  • Research: Advancing medical, scientific, or environmental breakthroughs 
  • Capital Projects: Investing in state-of-the-art facilities and buildings on campus 
  • Faculty or Department Needs: Supporting specific academic areas and disciplines  
  • Widening Participation: Creating opportunities for underrepresented students 
  • Library and Collections: Enhancing our resources and learning environments

How to leave a gift to King’s  

We’d love to talk to you if you’re considering leaving a gift in your Will to King’s to ensure that we can honour your wishes when the time comes. If you’d like to speak to someone confidentially, please contact Julia Brown, Head of Legacy & In-Memory Giving on 020 7848 2635 or julia.4.brown@kcl.ac.uk. 

Our team is here to support you with any questions you might have however, we always recommend speaking to your solicitor for formal legal or financial advice on Will making or estate planning. 

You can read more about leaving a gift to King’s below or you can download our brochure for guidance here.

We’ve put together a comprehensive guide on how leaving a gift in your Will can contribute to the future of King’s. Inside, you’ll find details on the various ways to give and how your generosity can help shape our future.

Download our wills guide.

You can leave a share of your estate, a fixed sum of money, or even a treasured item.

Share of your estate: A residuary gift

This is a percentage – or all, if preferred – of your remaining estate, once all fees, outstanding costs and other gifts have been deducted.

A fixed sum of money: A pecuniary gift

If you’d rather leave a sum of money, it’s worth considering linking your legacy to the Retail Price Index. This will ensure that the value of the gift you make doesn’t depreciate over time.

A postponed gift: A reversionary gift

This allows you to leave your estate, or part of it, to a specified person during their lifetime.

Below is some suggested wording which you may wish to share with your solicitor.

A share of your estate (residuary gift)

'I give [state a percentage in words and figures] of my estate to King’s College London of Strand London WC2R 2LS absolutely with the wish that the proceeds be used to support [state the area/project/research/department/faculty]. My Trustees shall have no further duties relating to this benefit if they obtain the written receipt from the College Secretary or other appropriate officer of King’s College London.'

A fixed sum of money (pecuniary gift)

'I give [state sum of money in words and figures] to King’s College London of Strand London WC2R 2LS absolutely with the wish that the proceeds be used to support [state the area/project/research/department/faculty]. My Trustees shall have no further duties relating to this benefit if they obtain the written receipt from the College Secretary or other appropriate officer of King’s College London.'

You can write your will for free using King’s trusted partner, Farewill. As the largest will-writing service in the UK, Farewill offers a straightforward way to create your will from home, at a time that suits you.

If you'd prefer to speak with a solicitor directly, you can find helpful guidance on how to choose one by visiting the Law Society website: www.lawsociety.org.uk

Write your will with Farewill.

 

Meet our pledgers, see the impact

Legacy gifts to King’s have funded groundbreaking research, provided scholarships, and supported transformative initiatives. Discover how these generous contributions continue to shape our future, and learn about those who have pledged a gift in their will to King’s and the difference they are making for future generations.

 

Meet Dr Margot Loudon

Meet Dr Margot Loudon

'The gift is ... a way of saying thank you. I owe King's a lot in setting me up for a good life.'

We can't stress enough the positive impact of generous donations on driving research exploring innovative therapeutic avenues of neurological and psychiatric illnesses.

Vice Dean of Research at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience (IoPPN)

 

Giving in memory of a loved one

 
Pay tribute to a loved one by making a meaningful gift in their name. Your contribution not only celebrates their life but also creates a lasting impact by supporting students and research at King’s. Whether it’s a one-time donation or an ongoing tribute, your gift helps ensure their legacy continues to make a difference. Thank you for thinking of King’s at this time.

To make a one-off donation in memory of your loved one - https://donate.kcl.ac.uk/

To send a cheque, please make cheques payable to:

King’s College London, Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement, Virginia Woolf Building, 22 Kingsway, 2nd Floor, London, WC2B 6LE 

Please include a note with your cheque stating that the payment is in memory of [your loved one’s name], so that we can allocate the gift to the correct area of support.

If you’re considering asking friends and family to donate in memory of your loved one, please follow the steps below or contact our team on giving@kcl.ac.uk for assistance in creating your page.

We’re here to help make the process as simple as possible.

1) Simply click on the ‘Fundraise for Us’ button on the top right and follow the instructions. You may need to set up an account with JustGiving if you don’t have one already.

2) You can include an image of your loved one if you wish and you will be able to see who has donated (unless they prefer to be anonymous).

3) Once you have set up a page, please get in touch using the link below so that we can ensure that donations are then transferred to the correct area of support.

4) You can then provide the link for people to donate to: eg. justgiving.com/KCL

Get in touch.

Established in 2025, The King’s Society recognises and thanks all those who have very kindly chosen to support KCL with a charitable gift in their Will.

Members of The King’s Society are invited to the annual celebration and other University events, with their commitment also acknowledged in our Annual Impact Report.

Once you’ve pledged a gift in your will, we’d be delighted to invite you to join the King’s Society. The Society is our way of celebrating and thanking those who have chosen to leave a gift in their will to King’s.

As part of the King’s Society, you’ll receive invitations to special events, updates on the University’s work, and, with your permission, have your name included in our annual report.

If you’ve already included King’s in your will, or decide to do so in the future, please let us know using the email link below so we can thank you properly and welcome you to the Society.

Contact Julia Brown, Head of Legacy and In Memory Giving.

  

 

 

Contact us

Official address: King’s College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS

020 7848 2635

King's as a charity

A gift to King’s College London is considered a charitable donation. As the College holds charitable status for all UK tax purposes, any gifts left to King’s in a Will are exempt from inheritance tax.

King’s College London does not have a registered charity number as it is classified as an ‘exempt’ charity under Schedule 3 of the Charities Act 2011. Despite not having a registered number, exempt charities have the same tax status as registered charities.

Our Exempt Status is recognised by HMRC under reference X11526.

You can find more information on this here.