Leaving a legacy in one’s will

Over the years, many people interested in Martinus’s work have chosen to donate part of their inheritance to the Martinus Institute. This has had an invaluable impact on the work of preserving and communicating Martinus’s spiritually scientific work. We accept with profound gratitude any amount, be it large or small, and take the utmost care when spending any money received.

If you would like to leave a legacy to the Martinus Institute in your will, it would be a welcome contribution to the work of disseminating Martinus’s analyses. For details see below:

Leaving a will gives one peace of mind

Making a will is always a good idea. You will thereby ensure that your estate will be divided exactly in accordance with your wishes. It is a good idea to periodically check that your will still corresponds to your wishes. Experience shows that in many cases people’s estates are not divided in accordance with their wishes because there is no valid will or because their will has not been changed to take account of changes in their family situation or cohabitation, or that they are not aware of the latest changes in the rules of inheritance.
If a will has not been made, the inheritance will be divided between one’s relatives in accordance with current standard judicial rules. If, according to these rules, there are no heirs, the inheritance will automatically go to the state.

How to make a will

In most cases making a will is rather simple. The law makes few but important rules about how a will should be made. It is a matter of ensuring that it is unambiguous and valid in law. We therefore recommend that you get legal assistance.
If you would like to benefit the Martinus Institute’s work by leaving the Institute a legacy, your will should state the following address and, as a precaution, also our registration number:

Fonden Martinus Åndsvidenskabelige Institut
Mariendalsvej 94
DK-2000 Frederiksberg
Denmark
Company registration number 19961486.

If you are not married and have no children or other heirs, the rules are very simple. Then you can bequeath everything you own to people and causes of your choice, including the Fonden Martinus Åndsvidenskabelige Institut if you wish.
If you are married and/or have children you must of course ensure that you bequeath what you would like to to your spouse or partner and/or children. The law lays down a minimum portion of one’s inheritance that has to go to one’s closest relatives – the so-called “absence of testamentary freedom”.
If you would like to bequeath a sum to other causes, including the Fonden Martinus Åndsvidenskabelige Institut, apart from one’s family, this can be done typically in one of the following ways.

A Residual Legacy, where you choose to leave a percentage, or the whole, of what is left in your estate once you have provided for your loved ones.
A Pecuniary Legacy, where you choose to give a gift of a fixed amount of money.
If you are making a new Will the following wording suggestions may be helpful to ensure your wishes are carried out:
Residuary bequest (a proportion)
I give (%) of the residue of my real and personal estate to Fonden Martinus Åndsvidenskabelige Institut, Mariendalsvej 94, DK 2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark (Danish Company Registration No. 19961486)
Pecuniary bequest (a set sum)
I give the sum of ……… to Fonden Martinus Åndsvidenskabelige Institut, Mariendalsvej 94, DK 2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark (Danish Company Registration No. 19961486)

The will must be dated and signed in the presence of two completely independent witnesses who have no personal interest in the will. With their signatures the two witnesses should confirm that it is you who has made and signed the will.
If you have already made a will and would like to add the Fonden Martinus Åndsvidenskabelige Institut as a new heir, you do not need to change your will. You can easily do this by adding a simple codicil to your existing will. This codicil must be formed and signed in the same way as the main will and signed by two independent witnesses.
We recommend that you get legal help to make a will.
The treatment of inheritances by the Institute
At the Institute inheritances (probate cases) are dealt with by the council and its legal aids. We do our best to limit the expenses involved in administering the estate.

We respect that many people interested in Martinus prefer confidentiality as regards their will and heirs. For this reason, we do not publish the names of those who leave a legacy to the Institute in their wills. We see to it that information about wills and inheritances are administered by trusted co-workers who deal with these specific issues.

If you have questions you would like to ask the Institute about wills and inheritances, you are always welcome to contact us.