Claim a Free Will and Leave a Gift to The Royal Ballet School
Given that March is National Free Wills Month, The Royal Ballet School is offering all existing and new supporters the opportunity to create or update their wills for free. The School has partnered with the expert online will writers at Octopus Legacy to offer this service — the latest in its benefits thanking supporters for their generous donations.
The Importance of Creating a Will
More than half of UK adults and aren’t in the process of writing one.
However, a will provides the peace of mind that you can support the people and charities closest to you — even after your lifetime. Having a will also allows you to distribute your assets as you wish, minimise stress for your next of kin, and reduce inheritance tax.
While creating a simple will costs around £150-£300, creating a complicated will could cost over £1,000.
Now, Royal Ballet School members can write or update a simple will for free with Octopus Legacy. The process should take around 15 minutes and can take place online or over the phone. Alternatively, members who need more complex wills or wills with trusts can receive a discount.
Leaving A Gift in Your Will to The Royal Ballet School
Anyone can leave a gift in their will to The Royal Ballet School to help support its future.
Supporters can leave three types of gifts:
- A residuary gift: This percentage of a contributor’s estate is payable after all other gifts, expenses, taxes, and debts.
- A pecuniary gift: This tax-free, fixed sum may be index-linked to make sure its value grows in line with inflation.
- A reversionary gift: This gift is only made after the death of anyone else named in the will. As such, the contributor’s family is provided for during their lifetimes first.
Also, those in the U.S. can leave a gift to The American Friends of The Royal Ballet School.
Gifts support The Royal Ballet School Endowment Fund, which helps finance the healthcare provisions and studios. It also helps finance training for students whose families don’t have the funds to cover all fees. For example, the fund helps cover the cost of pointe shoes, auditions, and travel.
Whatever form the funding takes, the goal is for the next generation of classical ballet artists to realise their fullest potential.
The Dame Ninette Circle
The Royal Ballet School is hugely grateful for contributions of all sizes, and those who pledge a gift become part of the Dame Ninette Circle.
The School encourages those who have already pledged a gift or are considering doing so to notify them. This way, it can recognise their generosity during their lifetime via the Circle.
The Circle takes its name from the School’s founder Ninette de Valois. She instilled the School’s original culture of world-class artistic, pastoral, and academic training that still shapes exceptional dancers today.
Circle members receive:
- Invitations to specially curated events and celebrations
- Regular email updates on School developments
- Priority bookings for the popular Summer Performances
The School also honours members with a plaque bearing their name on a seat in the Linden Studio at Upper School.
Read more about leaving a gift to The Royal Ballet School in your will.
About The Royal Ballet School
For nearly a century, The Royal Ballet School has held its position at the forefront of the British classical ballet industry. It has produced generations of internationally renowned dancers and choreographers, from Darcey Bussell, Margot Fonteyn, and Wayne Sleep to those stepping into the spotlight today.
Gifts in wills are instrumental to the latest professional dancers enjoying illustrious careers on the world stage.