With Comic Relief's Red Nose Day back today there has never been a better time to think about a charitable legacy in your will.

UK figures for 2016 showed that charitable legacies had risen to a new high, with a total of £2.7 billion left to charity.

Red Nose Day is one of the biggest charitable events in the British calendar, and the appeal has raised in excess of £1 billion over the last 30 years.

Julie Melia, a partner at Ogier and head of the firm's Probate and Estates team, said that the team was seeing an increasing number of will drafting instructions that included a charitable legacy.

"Statistics show that British people are extraordinarily generous in supporting charities, and although there isn't the same kind of data collected here in Jersey, we know that Islanders support an enormous number of charities, which rely heavily on legacies" she said.

"There is an increasing awareness of charitable legacies, and although some parts of Jersey law relating to wills are complex and prescriptive, the process of leaving something to charity when you die is very straight-forward.

"It's a good idea for everyone to have a will because it gives peace of mind and reduces stress on grieving families at a time when they don't need the additional burden of worrying about how you might have wanted everything to be dealt with.

"We would encourage everyone to have a will to provide for what should happen to their assets when they pass on, and to consider making a charitable legacy at the same time."

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