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Information for executors and solicitors

Thank you for your work in acting as executor for an estate in which the MS Society is a beneficiary.

On this page you’ll find information what to do if you are dealing with an estate in which the MS Society is a beneficiary, whether you are a solicitor or acting as a non-professional executor.

If you need any help, please don’t hesitate to contact our legacies team by email [email protected] or call on 020 8438 0763.

How to correspond with us

Guidance for solicitors

For pecuniary legacies

We'd be grateful if you could provide us with:

  • the deceased’s full name and last address
  • an extract of the will clause mentioning our charity

For residuary legacies

We would be grateful if you could provide us with:

  • a copy of the will and a schedule of assets and liabilities of the estate, or copy of form IHT400/205 (England, Wales, Northern Ireland) or C1/IHT400 (Scotland)
  • notification of when Probate/Confirmation was granted and a copy of the Grant/Certificate when this becomes available
  • if the estate includes a property, a copy of the three property valuations/Home Report obtained, and of the Completion Statement/State for Settlement when it is available.

If there is likely to be a CGT liability we would prefer if the executors would appropriate our share of property or investment assets into the charity's name and then arrange to sell on our behalf as bare trustees.

Spending restrictions in a will

We’ll always follow the gift restrictions a legator as expressed in their will.

Change of registered charity number in England and Wales

Our charity number is 1139257. However, older wills may include our old registered charity number, which was 207495.

Our registered office address is Carriage House, 8 City North Place, London N4 3FU. However, wills may include one of our previous addresses, which include:

  • 10 Queen Street Place London EC4R 1AG
  • 372 Edgware Road, London NW2 6ND

If another address is listed, please do get in touch as it could be listed as one of our regional hubs or local groups.

Please use email if you can - We’re conscious of the environmental impact of using paper and so, if you can, please communicate with Jo, our Legacy Case Manager by email at [email protected]

Guidance for non-professional executors

For pecuniary (ie. fixed-sum) legacies

Please let us know:

  • The full name and last address of the person whose estate you’re administering. They may have been a supporter and we can make sure no further post is sent to them.
  • If you can provide us with an extract of the will clause mentioning our charity, this will help us follow the intentions for the gift.

For residuary legacies (portion of the residuary estate)

We’d be grateful to receive:

  • A complete copy of the will
  • The grant of probate
  • The estate accounts, so that we can fulfil our external auditing requirements. These accounts need not be complex, they can be a simple summary of assets, liabilities, and payments made. But we do need these accounts to show the balance available for distribution to the residuary beneficiaries.

We appreciate that administering an estate can be both complicated and time consuming. We’d like to thank you for taking care of the charity's legacy gift. Please do let us know if you experience any difficulties, or if we can help in any way.

Spending restrictions in a will

We’ll always follow the gift restrictions of a legator as expressed in their will.

Change of registered charity number in England and Wales

Our charity number is 1139257. However, older wills may include our old registered charity number, which was 207495.

Our registered office address is Carriage House, 8 City North Place, London N4 3FU. However, wills may include one of our previous addresses, which include:

  • 10 Queen Street Place London EC4R 1AG
  • 372 Edgware Road, London NW2 6ND

If another address is listed, please do get in touch as it could be listed as one of our regional hubs or local groups.

Please use email if you can  - We’re conscious of the environmental impact of using paper, so if you can, please communicate with us by email. Please contact Jo, our Legacy Case Manager at [email protected]

Making a legacy payment

Please always send a letter or email with the legacy payment, explaining who the legacy is from with the information detailed in the sections above.

Please note, it’s not possible to make legacy payments online via our website. You'll need to make a payment to us in one of the following two ways

Legacy payments by bank transfer

If you wish to send us a legacy payment by bank transfer, here are our BACS details:

Account Name: Multiple Sclerosis Society
Bank: Barclays Bank Plc
Address: 1 Churchill Place, London, E14 5HP
Sort Code: 20 82 94
Account Number: 60845108

Please use the reference ‘LEG [initials and surname of deceased]’ when making your transfer so we can link your payment with the correct legacy.

If we’ve already corresponded with you please use this format: ‘LEG[case number at top of our letter]’.

Legacy payments by cheque

Please make all cheques payable to ‘The Multiple Sclerosis Society’. Always include a covering letter with the cheque, so we can let you know we’ve received it. Please send to our address:

The MS Society
8 City North Place
London
N4 3FU