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Including a charity in your will

12 Jun 2013

When it comes to your will, you may not want to give everything to the kids. Decide where you want your money to go and do your research.

It may not be the dinner party topic of choice, but choosing how to divide your assets is a crucial decision to make. This is especially true when all of your money may not be going to family members. But it’s important to do your research when it comes to handing out bequests.

What is a bequest?

Legally, a bequest is a disposition in a will concerning property, usually money. When people think of a bequest, the most common association is giving money to charity through a person’s will.

Do your research

Thousands of charities are constantly competing for your donations, so making a decision can be difficult.

Generally, a decision to support one particular charity over another is due to an association with, or interest in, the cause that the charity represents.

Whatever the reason, make sure you’re happy with the activities of the charity.

If you don’t have a particular charity in mind, but still want to donate through your will, Charities Aid Foundation has a list of more than 25,000 registered charities in Australia that they can either link you to, or that you can contact directly when you decide who you plan to donate to. 

When it comes to an unfamiliar charity, while you may support the cause, there are a number of questions that you may want to ask. For example, always ask where the charity is based and what the donations are used for. Also, make sure that anyone you talk to from the charity is an authorised representative.

How does it work?

There are several ways you can gift to a charity through your will, including:

  • A specific gift of money, property, stocks or shares
  • A percentage of your estate
  • A residual gift of whatever is left after all other gifts, taxes and debts have been paid
  • The entire estate.

The wording in your will is of utmost importance in ensuring the gift not only reaches the right recipient, but is used for the intended purposes.

The person who is organising your will should usually advise you to give your executor some discretion in relation to making the gift. The purpose of this is to be able to deal with the situation if the charity has ceased to exist or if the intended purpose is no longer relevant to the chosen charity.

Charitable trusts

Another way to include a charity in your will is through a charitable trust. This means, rather than a flat sum given through your will, a trust is set up to distribute to the charity on an annual basis.

For example, if you establish a charitable trust of $1 million and the trust distributes four per cent per annum to the charity while generating a capital growth of four per cent per annum, after 20 years, the trust will be worth $2.1 million.

In other words, organised correctly, a charitable trust keeps on giving.

Get help

When it comes to anything will-related, always obtain sound advice and help when arranging and drafting the documents.

Remember, you’ve probably accumulated more assets than you think you have, so when choosing what and how to distribute, it’s worth speaking to someone to sort out your finances.