Most importantly, we recommend that everyone obtains expert legal advice when making or amending a Will.

The importance of making a Will

It is in the interest of everyone over the age of 18 to have a valid Will.  Making a Will is the positive process of creating a legal document which specifies:

Without a valid Will, your Estate is likely to be distributed in accordance with a Government formula that specifies which relatives are entitled to what portion of your Estate. Such circumstances do not provide for distributions to friends, charities or other organizations that you may favour.

It is desirable for every adult to have a valid Will. We recommend that advice be sought from a solicitor or other suitably qualified legal advisor, when making a Will.
 

1. List everyone you intend as beneficiaries: family members, friends, charities, etc.
2. List all of your assets and liabilities and thus determine your financial net worth, Make allowance for any assets that may not go through your Will which may include assets jointly held, superannuation fund assets, proceeds of insurance policies, etc.
3. List the beneficiaries and decide what type of bequest you would like to leave for each beneficiary. There are several types of bequests (refer to “Types of Bequests” section). Ensure that your loved ones are taken care of first and then consider bequests for charities and other organizations
4. If you decide to leave a bequest for Diabetes Victoria and/or other charities, you may wish to discuss your intentions with your family, to ensure that they understand your reasons for doing so
5. Decide who will be the executor of your Will and check that they are happy to take that role
6. You may wish to improve your knowledge of Will drafting and Estate planning issues before visiting a solicitor to prepare your Will. Our Donor Relations Officers can provide assistance including relevant publications (refer to “Assistance with Will Preparation and Bequest Nomination” section)
7. Keep your signed Will in a safe place. Notify your family and Executor of the location of your Will
8. Review your Will regularly, at least every five years or potentially more frequently depending upon changes to your circumstances (refer below). For simple changes, a Codicil can be added to your existing Will.

1. Marriage, separation or divorce
2. Commencing or ending a de facto relationship
3. Having children (including adopted or foster children or the introduction of step-children)
4. A change (or possible change) in the personal status of a proposed beneficiary
5. Death of a proposed beneficiary (including a spouse or partner)
6. A change in circumstances or health of a beneficiary, family member or close friend
7. Major events affecting your assets including the disposal of a significant portion of your estate or the disposal of an asset specifically referred to in the Will
8. The desire to include new or alternative beneficiaries, including charitable organisations
9. Changes to taxation laws
10. Death, ageing or ill health of the Executor of your Will.

A gift in your Will (a bequest) can be given to Diabetes Victoria for general purposes. This provides us with maximum flexibility. In such circumstances, we will apply your bequest to the most urgent diabetes issue at the time that your bequest becomes available.

Alternatively, you may wish to specify in your Will that your bequest is to be applied to a specific purpose. Such purposes could include:

Research

Which includes support for: (a) medical research to help improve the medical management of diabetes or to find a cure and/or (b) research into the social/psychological aspects of diabetes – with the aim of improving the quality of life of all people affected by diabetes.

Education

Which aims to help people with diabetes to better understand and manage the disease; promote diabetes self-management techniques; increase community awareness, and expand type 2 diabetes prevention programs (the cause of type 1 diabetes is not fully understood and it cannot be prevented at this stage).

Children and diabetes

Helps to provide programs for children with (type 1) diabetes. These programs include multi-day live-in camps as well as day functions for children/teenagers up to 18 years of age. These camps/functions help children to gain confidence in managing their diabetes and to acquire skills to live an independent active life.

There are three main forms of bequest:

1. Specific Bequest – this specifies a defined gift, whether it is a sum of money, property, life insurance policy, company shares, jewellery, etc.
2. Percentage or Fractional Bequest – this is expressed as a percentage (or fraction) of your Estate. This method takes inflation into account and is more beneficial to your charity of choice.
3. Residual Bequest – once you have provided specific bequests for your loved ones and/or other beneficiaries, a Residual Bequest will ensure that the remainder of your Estate is distributed to your chosen charity(s). Alternatively, the Residual Bequest could be allocated (in percentage terms) to a combination of your loved ones and chosen charities.

If you require any assistance with leaving a gift in your Will to Diabetes Victoria please contact our bequest team on 1300 437 386. Please note that our donor relations officers do not give legal advice.

However, we can assist by:

1. Providing details of our recommended Will wording for a gift to Diabetes Victoria. This wording will vary depending on whether the gift is a cash amount; a specific asset; a portion of the estate; or the residuary of the Estate;
2. Discussing options for the allocation of your gift. For example, your gift may be applied to diabetes research, children with diabetes, diabetes education….or perhaps simply for general purposes (eg to be used to satisfy the organization’s most urgent need at the time the gift becomes available);
3. Providing contact details of suitably qualified solicitors, where there is no existing family solicitor;
4. Referring you to general information about Will preparation and Estate planning, that is practical, informative and easy to read (usually books and other published information);
5. Providing you with a codicil document format where you may wish to make a simple change to your Will with the aid of a codicil document;
6. Discussing other options for making a gift to a charity (other than via a Will) but which would also only be effective on the day a person passes away; and
7. Supplying information about matters related to estate planning such as the use of different types of Powers of Attorney (ie financial, medical, guardianship, etc). Again, printed documents are available.

1.  We would like to thank you for your kind and thoughtful decision
2.  It is useful for us to know the total number of expected bequests for long term planning purposes. We have to make some long term operational decisions from time to time and it provides an added level of financial comfort to know the level of support that we can expect from bequests in future years.

We wish to sincerely thank all persons who have provided a gift in their Will to Diabetes Victoria. Your kind and thoughtful support helps us to provide long term assistance for all people affected by, or at risk of diabetes.

The following is a list of bequests received by Diabetes Victoria from 2015 to 2019:

📅 Page last updated: 8 January 2019