Hatch Brenner solicitors to offer cancer research uks free will service

Theatre Street-based law firm Hatch Brenner LLP in Norwich is proud to have joined Cancer Research UK’s Free Will Service.

The Free Will Service helps people aged 55 and over, or cancer patients and survivors to write or update their will free of charge. It also gives guidance for people considering leaving a legacy gift to Cancer Research UK. The service is now being provided at Hatch Brenner where trained lawyers will be able to offer support to people living in Norwich and assist with making a will. 

Cancer Research UK receives no government funding for its research and relies heavily on the generosity of people leaving gifts in their wills. Over a third of its research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer is funded through supporters leaving a legacy to the charity.

A legacy gift can be anything someone wishes to leave in their will. Traditionally this is money but it could be anything that has a monetary value like an estate or specific item. Anything that is left to Cancer Research UK can be marked to be ring-fenced for research into a specific cancer type or research within a local area. 

Clare Moore, Director of Legacies at Cancer Research UK, explained: “We all reach a stage at some point in our lives where we start to look ahead and consider what will happen to our financial affairs in the future, when we may no longer be around. 

“At Cancer Research UK, we work with a number of local solicitors, including Hatch Brenner, to offer the Free Will Service to anyone aged 55 and over, or cancer patients and survivors, helping individuals to make an all-important first will or update an existing one. 

“One in two people in the UK will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives. The generous gifts left by people in their wills are so important as they help us continue the work that we do to beat cancer sooner. Without the money we receive from gifts, the progress we make through research would be far slower.

“We are always so grateful to anyone who leaves a gift in their will to Cancer Research UK – legacy gifts help us find new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.”

Bailey Yallop, Hatch Brenner Paralegal and member of the Private Client team commented: “It is great to be working with Cancer Research UK in providing the Free Will Service. It is all too easy to put off making a Will, but without one, your estate will ultimately be divided as the law provides, which may not be in the way you would have chosen. We make the process as straightforward as possible, and are hoping that by offering the Cancer Research UK service, we will encourage more clients to make provisions for their specific wishes.”

Cancer survival in the UK has doubled since the early 1970s and Cancer Research UK’s work has been at the heart of that progress. Every step taken by its doctors, nurses and scientists relies on donations from the public and the kindness of supporters who choose to leave a gift in their will. 

The Free Will Service has been running successfully for over 20 years across a network of solicitors in the UK. Anyone who wishes to use the service is asked to consider leaving a legacy gift to Cancer Research UK but under no obligation to do so. 

Hatch Brenner looks forward to offering the Free Will Service to help the people in Norwich and working with Cancer Research UK to help beat cancer sooner. 

For more information about leaving a legacy gift and Cancer Research UK’s free will service, visit www.cruk.org/freewillservice or contact Hatch Brenner via [email protected] or by calling 01603 214 220