Leaving a Gift to CANSA in Your Will
We’re honoured that you may be considering making a bequest to CANSA, because a gesture of such generosity and trust means that you have faith in our ability to lead our community towards our ultimate goal – building a world without cancer!
Your Last Will and Testament
Everyone over the age of 18 should make a Will so as to be sure your wishes regarding the disposal of your assets after your death are respected.
Even if you own only items of sentimental value, or if you think you have too little money to worry about, or believe a family member will ‘take care of it’, a Will is still essential and the only relevant, legally-binding document.
Only your latest Last Will and Testament, correctly signed and witnessed, will be taken into account, so it should be complete in every way.
Who can Draw up my Will?
You may draw up a simple Will yourself, but because of the strict legal requirements, it makes sense to use the services of an expert. Your bank, a legal advisor or your financial consultant can advise you. The larger your estate, the more important it is to cover all the potential pitfalls.
What if I Don’t Make a Will?
If you should die ‘intestate’, that is without making a Will, everything you own – your estate – will be distributed by the state according to a formula provided by law. You may be surprised to find this is not what you expect, or in fact, what you want.
By making a Will you show your love and care for those closest to you, protecting them and saving them worry in their time of grief.
What is a Bequest?
A bequest is your instruction in your Will to give a portion of, or your entire estate, to a specific beneficiary (orbeneficiaries). The bequest could include immovable property, moveable assets, an investment, an insurance policy, a cash sum, or a percentage of your estate.
You can also bequeath the ‘residue’ of your estate; that is whatever’s left over after all other bequests have been made.
Leaving a Bequest
A bequest is a serious matter that should not be entered into without understanding all of the factors involved.
Should there be anything you wish to know, we invite you, without obligation, to contact our Bequest Officer at CANSA Head Office, email bequests@cansa.org.za or speak to your legal advisor.
Beware – Inflation Erodes Values Over Time!
One must be mindful of the impact of inflation with the passage of time. For example a bequest of R10 000 to someone today may seem generous, but in five years’ time its value will have eroded away. To counter that effect, one could apportion bequests using a percentage of the value of the estate, rather than absolute rand amounts.
To make it easy to accurately identify and contact beneficiaries, they should be fully named, with addresses or other contact details included.
A Bequest to CANSA
As South Africa’s leading organisation fighting cancer, we believe we are well-known to you as a worthy beneficiary of your extraordinary generosity and trust.
We’d be privileged and honoured to receive a bequest from you. You can of course designate any area of our work where you’d prefer us to use your bequest – for example, towards health awareness cancer projects, or towards our CANSA Tough Living with Cancer (TLC) programme for the benefit of children suffering from cancer, to name but two.
A bequest presents us with a special opportunity to secure something we really need, but cannot afford out of our everyday budget. So wherever possible we use a bequest to create an enduring and tangible tribute to you.
Please Tell Us
If you should make the decision to leave a bequest to CANSA in your Will, you’ll become a valued member of our team. More than anything, we want to thank you, in advance, for your exceptional generosity and thoughtfulness and show our appreciation for your trust and support.
You may perhaps prefer to discuss in person how you would like us to use your bequest when the time comes. There are many opportunities and no bequest is too small to be of great value!
Thank you!
Queries CANSA:
Email: bequests@cansa.org.za
