More Australians are leaving money and gifts to charities when they pass away

Record numbers of Aussies are using their wills to join a growing trend and legal experts have issued a warning about the fine print.

Exclusive: Australians left more than $224 million in their wills to charity groups last year, with those from Victoria the most charitable.

Analysis by online estate planning service Gathered Here found one in five wills written in 2022 included a charitable donation, with the value of those donations also increasing.

“Millions of us give to charities on a regular basis. It’s not really any surprise that so many people would want to support the causes they have cared about in life, after they have died,” Gathered Here CEO Colin Wong said.

Gathered Here CEO Colin Wong

In some cases, people have left their entire estate to their chosen charity, while others nominate a specific amount, Mr Wong said.

“We have seen examples of gifts of $200,000 being left to a charity,” he said.

For many, though, the thought of leaving a gift to a charity is something that simply does not cross their mind when writing a will.

Ciara Wynne, 28, wrote her will online before going on an overseas trip.

“To be honest, it had never occurred to me to include a charity in my will but when I saw a section on charity gifts, I thought it was a great idea,” Ms Wynne said.

“I left gifts to two animal charities. One of the donations was to PetRescue as the organisation is close to my heart. Another was to a wildlife organisation as I’m a bit of an animal lover.”

Ms Wynne, a marketing executive from NSW, left a five per cent residual gift to each organisation, which equates to around $31k.

Ciara Wynne left gifts for two charities in her will. Supplied

UNICEF Australia relies entirely on donations to fulfil its purpose of fighting for children’s rights, with about 10 per cent of donations coming from gifts in wills.

“We’ve been lucky enough to receive some gifts in the millions, and gifts capable of funding entire programs and seeing large-scale, transformational change for children,” UNICEF Head of Individual Giving, Alana Cordukes, said.

“We began our partnership with Gathered Here in 2022 and since (then), we’ve received notification of over 200 gifts in wills … with more than $7.9m pledged to help vulnerable children around the world.”

UNICEF Head of Individual Giving, Alana Cordukes

Wills and estate lawyer Karina Penfold

While 66 per cent of Australians say they want to leave something to a charity, only 7.4 per cent actually leave a bequest in their will when using a traditional solicitor.

“The reason for this intention-action gap is that Australian solicitors rarely ask clients about charitable bequests,” Mr Wong said.

The Gathered Here report shows 19 per cent of wills written in 2022 included a charitable gift.

Victorians were the most likely to include a gift in their will (22 per cent) followed by ACT (21 per cent) and NSW (20 per cent).

Wills and estate lawyer Karina Penfold said while leaving gifts to charities, either as a lump sum or as a percentage of estate was common, it was important to consider the wording of the gift.

“Charities may amalgamate, change names, cease to exist or change their purpose by the time of the person’s death,” Ms Penfold said.

“There are clauses that can be incorporated into the will, that will still allow the gift to be made to another charity with similar purpose should that happen.”

Ms Penfold recommends speaking to an estate lawyer before making a commitment to discuss any potential risks, such as family contesting the will.

“Always speak with your estate planning lawyer before making or changing your will to avoid costly disputes in the future.

“Certainly though, I find that bequests through wills are generally larger than the donations a person may make during their lifetime and can have a significant impact for the charity.”

So far, an estimated $340 million has been pledged to charities and non-profits via Gathered Here, Mr Wong said.

“And we are on track to hit $1 billion by 2025.”

Originally published as More Australians are leaving money and gifts to charities when they pass away