Whether you enjoy regular visits to one or more of our museums, have fond memories of a childhood spent exploring Scotland’s collections or are simply passionate about the power of museums to inspire, by leaving a gift in your will you can bring Scotland’s past to life for future generations.

After you have taken care of the people closest to you, by choosing to remember National Museums Scotland with a gift, your generosity and kindness will place you in an important tradition of benefactors preserving Scotland's national collections for generations to come.

Your legacy gift – of any size – costs nothing now, but will play a crucial role in strengthening the nation’s treasures and their stories for the future.

How to leave a gift in your will

Leaving a legacy gift is an important decision, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are the basics:

1. State in your will that you would like to leave a gift to us. We recommend using a solicitor or professional will-writer to make sure your will is legal and valid.
2. Include our full name, to make sure the money goes to the right place: National Museums Scotland Charitable Trust (Charity No: SC 6964), Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF.
3. If you would like your gift to go towards a specific museum, please contact us to discuss this.
4. If you have already written us into your will, we’re very grateful and would love it if you could let us know, so we can thank you personally and appropriately.

As a registered charity, a gift in your will to National Museums Scotland can prove extremely tax-efficient, as such gifts are not subject to inheritance tax.

To find out more, to arrange an appointment to discuss your support in more detail, or to explore leaving a Gift in Memory of a loved one, please contact our Development Team on 0131 247 4095, or Gill Blake on g.blake@nms.ac.uk.

Thank you for considering supporting us in this special way.

Miss Crowford's jewellery

Sometimes a person leading a quiet, unassuming life can reveal extraordinary accomplishments. This was certainly the case with Miss Crowford. From her tiny Edinburgh flat she collected costume jewellery of all sorts, whatever caught her eye from favourite haunts and exotic trips abroad. 

On entering Miss Crowford’s home the breadth of her collection was immediately apparent – a positive Aladdin’s cave with pendant earrings hanging from the spines of books and butterfly brooches pinned to flower arrangements. Some treasures were found packed away in a bewildering variety of containers while others occupied every inch of space, with rows of gorgeously coloured glass beads and enormous glittering brooches, shaped like spiders and butterflies, decorating the flat.

Though her friends don’t remember Miss Crowford ever wearing any of her beloved jewellery, she did keep a meticulous record of her many purchases. Miss Crowford bequeathed her precious collection to National Museums Scotland through her will and, unbeknown to the museum, she had been quietly collecting in an area yet to be tackled by our curators. Over a lifetime she gathered objects that the museum had not yet acquired… and with one generous gesture she filled a unique gap in our national collection.