What is a bequest and how do I leave one in my Will? Posted on January 31, 2022February 23, 2023 by Isabelle Dunster A bequest is a gift passed to an organisation or individual as part of your Will, a legal document that outlines your wishes when you pass away. It is the legacy you leave behind when you pass away, and can have a lasting impact on the lives of others. How does a bequest work? All your financial assets, savings, properties, belongings, assets (like stocks and bonds) form what is known as your estate. When you pass away you can choose how you would like to divide up your estate with the executor of your Will. A person or organisation you choose to leave a bequest to is known as a beneficiary. What are the different types of bequests? There are four main types of bequests you can leave in your Will: 1) Residual: This is the remainder of your estate after you leave gifts to loved ones 2) Percentage or fractional: This is a gift expressed as a percentage of your estate 3) Pecuniary: This is a specific gift that can be money, property, stocks or shares 4) Whole estate: This comprises your entire estate Who can I leave a bequest to? You can choose to leave a bequest to a person or organisation like ACRF, or multiple people and organisations, depending on how you would like to divide up our estate. When making the decision of who, or what organisation, to leave a bequest to, it is important to consider the legacy you would like to pass on to future generations. Safeguarding your loved ones, progressing the causes you’re passionate about, and leaving a lasting impact on the lives of others, are all important considerations to make when leaving a bequest. To learn more about leaving a bequest or gift in your will, please visit our Gifts in Will page, where you can download a free Bequest Info Booklet. How do I leave a bequest? A bequest will need to be written into your Will. If you have a pre-existing Will, you will need to update the Will wording to include a bequest to a loved one or organisation. If you don’t have a Will, but are looking for an efficient and affordable way to create a simple Will that reflects your wishes, book in to attend one of ACRF’s annual Wills Days. For just $75 for an individual or $100 for a couple, a legal professional will provide a one-on-one consultation to draft a simple Will. There is no obligation to leave a gift to ACRF in your Will, though should you choose to do so we would be very humbled. All fees will go toward backing brilliant cancer research. For more information and to book, visit our Wills Days 2023 page. Why make a bequest to a charity? There are plenty of reasons you might choose to leave a bequest to a charity in your Will. A bequest to charity is a powerful way to leave behind a lasting impact in your honour or in the memory of a loved one. It’s the last gift you’ll give to the people and causes who need it most. While leaving a gift to family and friends has the obvious benefit of ensuring your loved ones are looked after when you pass away, leaving a bequest to a charity in your Will can positively impact the lives of people you’ve never met, who you may share a common bond with. For example, many people who leave a bequest to ACRF have a lived experience of cancer or have a loved one who has been impacted or died from the disease. Related reading: How to Leave a Gift to Charity in Your Will How do I leave a bequest to ACRF? ACRF is humbled by all our amazing bequestors who choose to leave a gift to ACRF in their Will. Our bequestors have backed brilliant cancer research, helping to give scientists access to the cutting edge technology that drives innovation, ultimately saving millions of lives. At ACRF we have a Planned Giving Manager dedicated to ensuring your wishes are reflected in your will when you pass away. Please contact Jo Meredith, by phoning 1300 884 988 or emailing bequests@acrf.com.au to learn more.
Promising new treatment for acute myeloid leukaemia Posted on June 10, 2016February 25, 2018 by Carly du Toit Patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) can look forward to the development of new therapies following a discovery by cancer researchers at Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. While investigating ways to target particular types of AML, and hoping to increase the chance of a cure for the patient while limiting damage to healthy cells, the team discovered a new way to kill cells that are dangerously multiplying. A process known as apoptosis (programmed cell death) is a natural and necessary response to keep the proliferation of human cells in check. Apoptosis is interrupted in cancers, including AML, leading to unchecked cell growth. Dr. Gabriela Brumatti said traditional chemotherapies, which encourage apoptosis, have a high relapse rate. For example, within five years of completing treatment, half of AML patients suffer a relapse of their cancer, and of those who relapse, only 50 percent survive. Her team tried a ‘blue sky’ approach, inhibiting apoptosis of AML cells in order to unleash an alternative form of cell death called necroptosis. They found that the necroptosis cell death pathway was more effective at killing AML than apoptosis. In preclinical trials, they used a combination of drugs – birinapant, a new anti-cancer drug, and emricasan, a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved inhibitor of apoptosis – to kill AML. “It has been speculated that inducing necroptosis might be an effective way to kill cancer cells,” said Professor Silke. “Our work now demonstrates clearly it is a clinically feasible and safe approach.” Dr. Brumatti suggested that since cancer cells often acquire resistance to traditional chemotherapy-induced apoptosis, this novel type of chemotherapy has the potential to be used to treat otherwise impossible to treat leukaemias. These findings have just been published in the research journal Science Translational Medicine. The Australian Cancer Research Foundation has supported WEHI by providing three grants, totalling AUD 5.5million towards cutting edge cancer research equipment and technology. The original news post was published on the WEHI website. Images of the research team courtesy of WEHI.
