Bequests - Gifts in wills - First Light Widowed Association

Your gift can help us
shine a light of hope for widowed Australians

Every year, thousands of Australians choose to include a gift to charity in their Will.

For a grass roots organisation like First Light, the gifts we receive in Wills can help us significantly scale up the work we do and ensure that our efforts to create support, awareness and resources for this generation of widowed Australians is not lost for those who will follow us.

We refer to gifts from Wills as ‘legacy giving’ because these donors create a long-lasting impact that can be felt for years after they’ve gone.

Donating a legacy bequest is a meaningful way to bring hope and support to the lives of others

We know that conversations about wills, death, grief and what happens after someone we love is gone can be uncomfortable and difficult. No one understands this more deeply than a widowed person.

By leaving a gift in your will to First Light, you will be helping us support the one million widowed Australians who are trying to navigate their grief and rebuild healthy, successful and fulfilling lives after the death of a partner or spouse.

We deeply appreciate and celebrate those who choose to include First Light in their Will or ask their loved ones to make a donation on their behalf as an informal legacy bequest (for example, in lieu of flowers at a funeral).

How to leave a legacy donation in your Will

Whether you already have a Will and would like to amend it,
or you’re one of the 50% of Australians who don’t yet have a Will,
you can find information below on how to give a gift of enduring love to First Light.

Amend your existing Will

If you already have a Will, you can update your existing Will to allocate a gift to First Light

There are several ways of leaving a bequest, dependent on what is best for you and your family.

Below is some suggested wording to accommodate most bequest provisions in your Will.

1. A specific bequest which may be money, property, stocks, shares, or insurance.

“I give, free of all duties and taxes, the amount of $ or my units/shares in Trust/Ltd, or my real property situated at [insert street address] having the title reference to First Light Widowed Support Ltd, ABN: 25 456 094 737, PO Box 3259, Newmarket, QLD, 4051, Australia.

I declare that the receipt of the CEO, secretary or other proper officer of First Light Widowed Support Ltd shall be sufficient discharge for my trustee or executor, who will not be bound to see its application.

2. A residual gift is where you can nominate to leave part or all of what is left of your estate, after provisions have been made for family and friends.

“I give, free of all duties and taxes, the residue of my estate (or % of the residue of my estate), to First Light Widowed Support Ltd, ABN: 25 456 094 737, PO Box 3259, Newmarket, QLD, 4051, Australia.

3. A percentage bequest is where you can nominate to leave a specified percentage of your total estate.

“I give, free of all duties and taxes, % of my estate to First Light Widowed Support Ltd, ABN: 25 456 094 737, PO Box 3259, Newmarket, QLD, 4051, Australia.

I declare that the receipt of the CEO, secretary or other proper officer of First Light Widowed Support Inc shall be sufficient discharge for my trustee or executor, who will not be bound to see its application.”

By the Wills Act, all Wills and Codicils must be in writing, signed by the Testator, and attested by two witnesses in the presence of the Testator and of each other.

First Light recommends you seek professional advice or the assistance of a solicitor when preparing your will, and thank you for considering supporting our charity with a bequest.

Write your Will

More than half of all Australians don’t have a Will. The main reasons for this high statistic is that people don’t know where to get help and information or simply haven’t got around to it yet.

For this reason, we are grateful for our partners Gathered Here, Australia’s most trusted online will provider, who offer our supporters access to a free online will.

Gathered Here has made it as easy as possible for people to include a gift to charity in their will – and it won’t cost a cent. If you’re interested in pledging a gift to First Light in your will, it only takes around 10 minutes and could help protect the work we do to support widowed people for generations to come.

Visit Gathered Here to write your online will, for free, with Australia’s most trusted online Will-writing service.

Where your gift will go

While we know too well that death is an inevitable and painful part of life, widowed people also understand that love doesn’t die.

When you leave a legacy gift to First Light, your love will live on by enabling us to:

provide online and hard copy practical information and resources (including newly widowed packs, our Widow Talk video series and our online forum)
facilitate peer-based catch ups, providing in-person connection in locations around Australia
link to a wide collaborative network of external support organisations
host in-person events and conferences to create hope and develop strategies for resilience and survival, including motivational speakers, practical presentations, interactive workshops and community building activities.

First Light supports ‘Include a Charity, a social change campaign managed by Fundraising Institute Australia (FIA).

Include a Charity currently represents more than 100 charities across Australia, covering a broad spectrum of causes and aspects of our community, from medical research, education, animal welfare, the environment, the arts and more.

Hope, community, understanding

Join our community for access to information, resources, events, and a network of widowed people for peer support. Joining is free, with options to become a financial supporter to keep us running and helping others.