What is a Gift in Will?
A gift in Will, also known as a bequest, is the donation you make when you include a portion of your estate to a charity in your Will.
What is the difference between Will and bequest?
A Will allows you to make a gift of any possessions and money you leave behind to organisations or beneficiaries of your choosing. This kind of gift is known as a bequest. A bequest to ACRF helps to arm our researchers with the tools and equipment they need to find new and improved ways to prevent, detect and treat ALL types of cancer.
Types of Bequests include:
- A specific sum of money or nominated asset such as a house or other land, shares and other investments, life insurance, works of art or other valuables.
- A bequest of your entire estate, or a specified share or percentage,, after all debts and expenses have been paid.
- A residual bequest, or a specified share or percentage of your residuary estate, after all debts and expenses have been paid, and other gifts distributed.
- Your property, such as a house, can pass to ACRF after having been used or occupied by a primary beneficiary during their lifetime. ACRF would receive this only after a specified period or after the nominated person has passed.
What is a class Gift in Will?
A class gift is a gift that is distributed to a group of beneficiaries rather than to individuals. The members may change by the time the property is distributed — some may have been born into the group and some may have died. However, the members living at the time of the property distribution will have a right of survivorship, so if members of the group die before the gift is distributed, then their portion is distributed equally among the surviving members.
What is a specific gift in Will?
A specific gift is leaving a particular item of property that you own to your nominated beneficiary.
Specific gifts are used when you would like to nominate a person or persons, to receive a particular piece of property from your Estate. When leaving a gift of this type, you are required to have owned this property at the time of drafting the Will.
What is a conditional Gift in a Will?
A conditional gift in a Will is a provision that distributes money or property to a person but only if an event takes place. For example, you might for example leave $10,000 to a grandchild but only if they graduate university.
A conditional gift such as leaving something to someone once they reach a certain age is relatively straightforward.
How to leave a Gift in Will
Including a gift in your Will is simple, and if you choose a charity like ACRF, there is a dedicated team to help you every step of the way. The steps of leaving a gift in your Will include:
Step 1: Contact the charity you would like to leave a gift in Will to discuss any questions you may have about doing so.
Step 2: Call your solicitor and make an appointment to create or update your Will to include a bequest.
Step 3: Based on the call with your solicitor, update the wording of your Will. Please see ACRF’s Will wording below as an example:
“I give to the Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACN 002 774 727) of Suite 903, 50 Margaret Street, Sydney for the purposes of funding world-class cancer research, free from all taxes and duties, (here please specify your gift, eg. the sum of $X). I direct that the receipt of any director or other proper officer for the time being of that Foundation will be a sufficient discharge to my Trustees”
Step 4: Tell your loved ones what you have outlined in your Will. It’s important they are aware of your wishes. If you decide to include a bequest to ACRF, let us know as we’d love to connect over your generous donation, and find out if there’s anything we can do to support you.
Your Gift in Will can save lives
ACRF bequestors have backed landmark projects, such as the development of the world’s first cervical cancer vaccine. The vaccine protects against nine HPV types which are the cause of around 90% of cervical cancers in women. Now decades on, and thanks to a national immunisation program, Australia is set to be the first country to effectively eliminate the disease.
Your gift will go toward ensuring that future generations have better access to life-saving cancer detection, prevention and treatment.
If you’d like to learn more, see How to Leave a Gift to Charity in Your Will.
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