Don't Let Their Stories Fade Away. Leave a Gift in Your Will.
By leaving a gift to the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation in your will, you help preserve a legacy that spans more than a century - one built on remembrance, resilience, and sacrifice.
Leave your legacy to preserve theirs
Among the 1.7 million men and women we commemorate from the First and Second World Wars, each had a life, a family, and a story worth telling.
They were sons and daughters, brothers, sisters, parents. They were neighbours, friends, and members of our communities; lives interrupted, families forever changed.
Stories like Private Eric Hutchins's. Eric was one of seven Hutchins brothers to serve in the Second World War. Only three would survive. Eric was one of 300 Dutch and Commonwealth prisoners of war executed by Japanese forces on the island of Ambon in February 1942. He was just 18 years old.
No Australian family suffered more than the Hutchins during the Second World War, but their sons' sacrifice helped build the world we live in today.
For many, these connections still echo.
A gift in your will helps keep their memories alive. Not just as names etched in stone, but as people who lived fully, loved deeply, and gave everything for a better world.
GET IN TOUCH
It’s easy to find out more about leaving a gift in your will:
Online contact form - Complete our online contact form to request more information from our team directly to your inbox
Email legacies@cwgc.org - send us a message and a member of our team will be in touch to discuss leaving a gift in your will
Telephone (01628) 507178 - give our friendly team a call with any questions you may have
As living memory fades into history, it is now more important than ever to tell their stories.
What impact will your gift have?
Without your support, the stories of Commonwealth service personnel risk being told for the last time.
Your legacy keeps those stories alive.
Gifts in wills help fund vital programmes like:
- Speakers and Tour Guides inspiring audiences across the UK with the human stories behind every name
- CWGF Guides welcoming international visitors at iconic cemeteries and memorials in France and Belgium
With your help, we’ll preserve not only the graves and memorials, but the memories too, ensuring the cost of freedom is never forgotten.
Create your free Will Online today
Write your will with our free will writing service
Writing your will is one of the most important things you’ll ever do - and with our will-writing partners, it’s simple and secure.
We work with Farewill, who offer an online will-writing service suitable for straightforward wills. This service does not include full legal advice. Farewill will act only in your interests and follow your instructions.
Create your will, free of charge, with Farewill today
You can also contact Farewill by phone on 0203 695 2090 for a consultation or further will-writing enquiries.
You do not have to use Farewill in order to include a gift in your will to CWGF - if you prefer to use a solicitor or need more complex legal advice, you can find qualified professionals through the Law Society’s directory.
Including a gift in your will is entirely optional. Once your loved ones are provided for, we hope you’ll consider supporting the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation to help us tell Every Story, For Evermore - ensuring those commemorated by the CWGC are remembered for generations.
Telling their stories
Keeping their memories alive
Find out more about how one supporter’s generous legacy is helping keep alive the memory of her beloved grandfather, Captain James Hay, who is buried at Poperinghe New Military Cemetery, Belgium.
Leaving a legacy to preserve his: Gill’s storyInformation for Executors & Solicitors
If you are planning to make a payment from a will, please contact us on e-mail at legacies@cwgc.org or by telephone on 01628 507278.
If you make the payment using our online payment details, please get in touch to let us know so we can ensure the gift is properly recorded and acknowledged.
Leaving a Legacy - Frequently Asked Questions
A will is a legal document that expresses a person's wishes as to how everything they own is to be distributed after their death; this includes property, money and other assets.
It also allows that person to decide who will manage the assets until their final distribution (Executor).
Writing a simple will can cost around £100; there would be a higher cost for a more complex will.
However, as a supporter of the CWGF you can take advantage of our free will writing service. You are under no obligation to leave a gift to us, but even a small gift can have a tremendous impact on our ability to keep the memory of those who died in the World Wars alive.
To find out more about our free will writing Service, please click here.
A gift in your will to a charity can reduce the amount of Inheritance Tax payable. To find out more please visit HMRC/Government’s website.
Please note that the CWGF is unable to offer legal advice on this issue. For information on your individual tax situation, you should speak to a professional advisor.
You do not need to let us know if you have left a gift in your will to the CWGF, but we are very grateful to those that inform us. We treat this information in complete confidence.
You can contact us by e-mailing legacies@cwgc.org or calling us on 01628 507278.
This means we can thank you for your support and can keep you updated on our work.
Some advice on writing your will
Please note: the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation cannot offer legal advice. The information below is presented only for awareness. Please contact a solicitor or other appropriate legal service before making any Will or legacy commitments.
- Make a list of your possessions
- Calculate what you think they are worth
- Think if you would like to include any gifts for friends and family
- Are there any causes that are close to your heart that you would like to include a gift to
- Choose an Executor, who will be able to carry out your wishes
- Find a Solicitor or professional Will writing service to draw up your will
If you already have a will and wish to make a small amendment or update, you can do this without rewriting the full thing. Instead, you can amend it with a document called a Codicil.
This document serves as an appendix to your will.
Residuary: this type of gift is a percentage or the whole of what remains of someone’s Estate once all other payments have been settled.
Pecuniary: this type of a gift is a fixed sum of money.
Specific: this type of gift can be an item or a possession such as jewellery or a book collection