Leave a gift in your Will

By making a Will, you can ensure that your money, property, possessions and investments (your ‘estate’) are passed on to the people and good causes that you've chosen. If you don't have a Will, the state will decide how your estate should be distributed. 

You can choose a solicitor or professional adviser to write your Will. 

Before consulting them, consider the value of your estate and decide what you would like to leave, and to whom. 

You can also write your Will online through the Safewill platform.

Writing a Will may not be as expensive as you might think and it’s the only way to be as certain as possible that your wishes will be carried out.

The cost will depend on how complex your affairs are. For straightforward situations, our partnership with Safewill enables you to create your Will online for $80 (50% discount). Each Will is reviewed by Safewill's legal team. Write your Will today.

Solicitors can also provide estimates on request.

There are three main types of gifts you can leave to the Mito Foundation; 

Residuary legacy – a gift of all, or a percentage or fraction, of what’s left in your final estate after all the other legacies have been paid out and debts cleared. One of the advantages of a residuary legacy is that it’s inflation-proof so you’re less likely to need to update your will in the future. 

Pecuniary legacy – a gift of a specified sum of money. 

Specific legacy – a specified item or items. For example property, a painting or a piece of jewellery. 

If you leave a specific legacy to the Mito Foundation, your gift will be slightly reduced as it will need to cover the costs of valuing and selling the item. 

To help your solicitor or professional adviser, we can offer suggested wording.

Mito Foundation will keep all details of your Will strictly confidential. 

It’s very helpful for us to understand why people make the once-in-a-lifetime decision to help Australian families devastated by mito through a gift in their Will. If you'd like to share your personal story or why you’ve chosen to remember the mito community, we'd love to hear from you. 

Personal stories like yours can be a great way to encourage others to think about supporting our future work in their Wills. We would not make any use of this information without first getting your written consent. 

It is a common and legally accepted practice for a blind or low vision person to have the contents of their Will read aloud (including by a screen reader) and then to sign the Will in the presence of two adult witnesses. As long as these requirements are met, and the person understands what the Will says and intends to give effect to it, the Will is valid.

For blind and low vision people, it is a good idea for the will-maker to keep a simple note of how the Will was read or explained to them before signing - whether by a trusted person or using a screen reader - and to choose witnesses who know them personally. These small steps can help if, down the track, the Court ever needs to confirm that the will-maker understood and approved their Will.

These steps also apply when using Safewill to ensure you complete your Will in a way that aligns with legal best practice.

If you'd like to be guided through the process, please contact the Safewill support team using the online chat or by calling 1800 10 33 10.