Gifts in Wills and Bequests

Sample Will clauses

A gift made after the donor’s death, as described in the donor’s Will, is called a bequest. To assist donors and their solicitors, the University suggests the following Will clauses:

1. For the general purposes of the University: 

   I give [percentage of my residuary estate / dollar amount / specified assets] ('the bequest') to The University of Melbourne of Grattan Street, Parkville, Victoria ABN 84 002 705 224 ('the University'), for the general purposes of the University. The Bequest is to be known as The [insert name] Bequest.

2. For a specific purpose: 

   I give [percentage of my residuary estate / dollar amount / specified assets] ('the bequest') to The University of Melbourne of Grattan Street, Parkville, Victoria ABN 84 002 705 224 ('the University'). It is my preference that the bequest support [insert purpose, e.g. scholarships for students in financial need / the University libraries / the Melbourne Medical School (or its successor), etc.]. The Bequest is to be known as The [insert name] Bequest.

3. Where a donor’s Will gives a fixed dollar amount to the University, the Will should state that the specified sum be adjusted for inflation. A sample inflation clause is included here:

The said pecuniary legacy is to be adjusted for inflation from the date of this Will to the date of my death according to the movement of the CPI between those two dates. CPI for the purposes of this Will means the Consumer Price Index All Groups, Weighted Average of Eight Capital Cities of Australia. If the CPI is no longer current at the date of my death and another index is then current, my Executor must compare the indices at the date of this Will to the date of my death and adjust the amount of the gift to take account of inflation.

These clauses are samples only and may not be suitable for the particular purpose under consideration. Donors should get their own independent legal advice regarding the specific terms of their Will. They should also contact the Gifts in Wills Team if they wish to discuss a specific purpose for their gift.

Notes for solicitors/Will drafters

As the University is a charitable institution, there is no need for any gift in Will to the University to:

• state ‘… and I declare that the receipt of the Vice-Chancellor or other proper officer of the University will be a good and sufficient discharge to my trustees and that my trustees will not be obliged to see to the application of the gift’: see section 6 of the Charities Act 1978 (Vic);
• specify in a donor’s Will a particular manner or form of investment for a bequest to the University, as section 40 of the University of Melbourne Act 2009 (Vic) permits the University to invest endowment funds in the manner authorised by the Trustee Act 1958 (Vic); and
• specify that, where a perpetual charitable trust is created, a portion of income be retained to protect against capital depreciation, as section 39(1) of the University of Melbourne Act 2009 (Vic) permits the addition of a portion of income from an investment pool to be added to the capital of the pool ‘as a provision against depreciation or reduction in income’