Leaving a Bequest

A living legacy to help wildlife

When you leave a gift to Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers in your Will, you leave a legacy to your children and to future generations. Your gift to help lets others share the joy you’ve experienced and is a chance to give back something to a natural world and its voiceless creatures that share the world with us. Including us in your Will helps us to rescue and care for more animals, protecting and preserving wildlife for future generations to enjoy.

You have the power to help shape the future of care for wildlife in our region. A gift in your Will, of any amount, can make a real difference to the care of precious wildlife. We understand that naturally you will want to look after your loved ones first, but by also including a gift to us you’re giving them something extra too – the gift of a natural world and its wildlife for them to enjoy for years to come.

If you’re considering leaving a gift to us we would love to talk with you to confirm the best way we can honour your wishes. If you would like to discuss options with us or if you have any questions about leaving a gift to us in your Will, please contact us.

Everyone should have a Will.

A Will gives you the power to choose how your assets can benefit your loved ones and the world you leave behind. Bequests aren’t just for the wealthy. Every gift, no matter what the size, helps us rescue rehabilitate and release native animals forever.

Making a Will need not be complicated or expensive, but we recommend that you should seek the advice of a legal practitioner to clearly set out the way you intend your estate to be distributed among your beneficiaries.

How to leave a gift to Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers in your Will.

1) Make or Update Your Will

• When making your Will it’s important to consider the needs of your loved ones first.
• After your loved ones are provided for, including a charity bequest in your Will can ensure the causes that you really care about are remembered.
• When writing your Will we recommend you get legal advice to ensure your Will is valid and that it will achieve everything you wish.
• We recommend you consult a solicitor who is experienced in Wills and estates. For help finding a solicitor you can search the Law Society NSW website.

2) Choose how you wish to leave your gift.

There are many different ways you can leave a gift to us such as

• Whole or part of your estate,
• Leaving a residual gift or a percentage of your estate,
• Leaving a specific bequest,
• Leaving a gift “in specie”,or
• Life interest

Whole or part of your estate

You can leave your entire estate or any part of your estate to Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers.

A residual bequest

A residual gift to Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers is a direction to your Executor that, once all specific gifts are distributed to the beneficiaries named in your Will and your debts are paid, the remainder, or a proportion of the remainder of your estate Will be paid to Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers. This type of bequest retains its value over time unlike a specific cash gift that can reduce in value with inflation.

A specific bequest

You can leave any identifiable property as a bequest to Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers in your Will. A specific gift may include any sum of money, cash balances in a bank account, a residential house, other real estate or shares. You can also nominate us as the sole beneficiary of a life insurance policy or superannuation.

Gift in specie

If you’re considering leaving real estate or shares to Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers, you may wish to consider leaving the gift in specie. This means the gift may be transferred directly to Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers and may save your estate paying capital gains tax on the sale of the asset. We recommend you seek appropriate legal and/or financial advice prior to making your Will to determine the suitability of an in specie gift.

Life interest

Sometimes a supporter intends to gift of property to Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers but also wishes to allow a family member or friend to live in that home for a period of time. Once that time has passed, the property will be sold and the proceeds paid to Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers. This is called a life interest.

A life interest may mean Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers will not receive your gift until many years into the future. Therefore professional legal advice in drafting a life interest gift to ensure your intentions are clearly set out in your Will is recommended.

Reviewing your Will.

It should be noted that if you leave a specific bequest of property to Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers in your Will, the gift may fail if that property is sold or no longer exists at the time of your passing. Reviewing your Will when there are significant changes to your circumstances can avoid these circumstances.

Suggested wording

Once you’ve decided on the type of bequest you’d like to make, ask your solicitor to draft the appropriate clause. (The following wording is a guide only and is subject to your solicitor’s professional legal advice in the preparation of your Will):

“I give:

(a) the residue (or percentage) of the residue of my estate; or

(b) the sum of $(amount); or (specified items)

to NORTHERN RIVERS WILDLIFE CARERS INC(ABN 28 209 143 641)

to be held upon Trust and to be applied towards wildlife care purposes in accordance with the Constitutional objectives of NORTHERN RIVERS WILDLIFE CARERS AUSTRALIA in its absolute discretion to determine.”

A bequest that supports our work in general provides Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers with the greatest flexibility to respond to critical priorities in the future. If you have a particular purpose in mind please contact us to discuss your wishes at info@wildlife.server286.com

Suggested wording Specific Bequest of land/real estate:

I GIVE: ____________________________- (insert property description) to NORTHERN RIVERS WILDLIFE CARERS INC (ABN 28 209 143 641).

In the event that NORTHERN RIVERS WILDLIFE CARERS INC, in its absolute discretion, determines that this property cannot be retained by NORTHERN RIVERS WILDLIFE CARERS INC then the property may be sold and the proceeds of sale be applied towards wildlife care purposes in accordance with the Constitutional objectives of NORTHERN RIVERS WILDLIFE CARERS INC.

Notify Loved Ones and Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers

We believe it’s an important step to talk to your loved ones about your Will to ensure your final wishes are carried out.

We also ask that you notify us of your intended gift. This helps us plan for the future and gives us the opportunity to thank you personally for your gift. You may remain anonymous if you wish.