Gifts in Wills

Your Will is a legal document that allows you to decide who will receive your assets and belongings when you die. If you do not have a Will, your estate could be distributed in a way which you would not have agreed with. This can prove costly, and can also cause unnecessary anxiety and problems for those you love. For your peace of mind, and for those close to you, it is important to have an up-to-date Will that reflects your current financial situation.

Making a Will can be done quickly and cost effectively. However it is recommended that you consult a Solicitor or Trustee Company to ensure that any will is appropriate to your particular circumstances.

It is not enough just to make a will and forget about it. You should regularly review your will to ensure that it continues to accurately reflect what you want to happen with your property when you die.  In some cases it is imperative that you review your will such as when you marry and when you divorce as both of these events directly affect any existing will.

Most people leave their Will with their Solicitor or a Trustee Company. You may also want to keep a copy at home, indicating where the original Will is being held. No matter where you keep your will you should ensure that your executor knows where to find it in the event of your death.

An Executor is the person responsible for ensuring that your instructions in your will are carried out. As he or she will need to make decisions on your behalf, it is important to choose someone competent and trustworthy.

Your Executor can be your spouse or partner, a friend or even a trustee company or legal firm. You can appoint more than one Executor.  Again your legal advisor can help you decide how many Executors you should appoint.

You need to have decided who should benefit and to what extent.

You should identify your Executors after confirming that they are willing to accept the role.

Before you see someone to prepare your will you should identify your significant assets and their approximate value and how they are held (i.e. jointly with someone else or through a company etc).  This is necessary because some assets are not dealt with by a will and you will need specific advice about these.

A bequest is a specific gift of property to a particular person or organisation through your will.

There are three major types of bequests:

• A SPECIFIC BEQUEST – is a gift of a particular piece of property such as a house, furniture or jewellery.
• A GENERAL BEQUEST – is usually a sum of money or a percentage of the value of your estate.
• A RESIDUAL BEQUEST – includes anything remaining in your estate after the specific and general bequests have been paid.

We suggest that you use the following wording:

“I give and bequeath (a percentage of my estate or a specific dollar amount) to Kairos Prison Ministry Australia (ABN: 55 081 496 175) to be applied for the general purposes of Kairos Prison Ministry Australia.”

We also recommend you include:

A receipt issued by Kairos Prison Ministry Australia will be sufficient discharge of my Trustee and my Trustee shall not be bound to see the application of the said gift.”

Kairos starts with “Listen, listen, love, love” and makes a world of difference, because in Kairos we know that God’s love changes everything.

Will you prayerfully consider leave a gift in your will to Kairos Prison Ministry Australia?