Planning your Will correctly, to ensure your wishes are carried out.

Why you should have a Will

Having a Will is one of the most important things you can do to protect and support your loved ones, friends, and your favourite charities.

If you were to pass away without a valid Will, your wishes of how your estate is distributed may be subject to a court ruling. This may cause unnecessary stress to your loved ones at a time that is already very stressful.

A valid and/or legally binding Will is the only way you can be sure your affairs will be managed as you would prefer.

How to include Cancer Council Victoria in your Will

Including a gift to Cancer Council Victoria in your Will is very easy and will make an impact on generations of Victorians to come.

The next time you are updating your Will, or writing your first Will, you can simply ask your solicitor to include Cancer Council Victoria.

We recommend updating your Will every few years or when your personal situation changes e.g., if you marry, divorce, have children, buy property, or if an intended beneficiary or executor dies.

Whatever your circumstances, we recommend that you see a solicitor when writing or updating your Will to ensure your wishes will be fulfilled.

What to consider

If you choose to include a gift to Cancer Council Victoria in your Will, we recommend that you do so after first making provision for family and loved ones.

There are a few steps you can take to simplify the process:

  1. Make a list of everything you own – your assets

This will include all your property, investments, shares, cash as well as any debts. From this you can calculate the value of your estate. Please find a Will planner here to help you record all your assets and their values. 

  1. Decide who you would like to benefit from your estate – your beneficiaries

This could include members of your family, loved ones or charities that you want to support in your Will.

  1. Decide who will administer your Will – your executor(s)

An Executor is the person, or persons, responsible for administering your Will. The executor of your Will is responsible for making sure your wishes are carried out. Make sure you speak to them first before giving them this responsibility so that they understand what will be required of them.

Wording your Will


Will wording

I give to Cancer Council Victoria (ABN 61 426 486 715), 615 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria, 3004  _________________, free of all duties and deductions, for its  _________________ purposes. The receipt of an authorised Cancer Council officer shall be deemed proof of payment.

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Information for solicitors and executors

Information for solicitors and executors

Important Cancer Council Victoria Information

When drafting a Will that includes a gift to Cancer Council Victoria, please ensure the following details are included.

Legal Name: Cancer Council Victoria

ABN: 61 426 486 715

Street Address: 615 St Kilda Road, Melbourne Vic 3004

Sending information to Cancer Council Victoria

Cancer Council Victoria has entered into an Estate Management Services Agreement with Bequest Assist Pty Ltd, where Bequest Assist will act on Cancer Council Victoria’s behalf regarding all general estate matters.

For general enquiries about an estate or to advise of a new estate please contact Bequest Assist via (03) 8839 1435 or info@bequestassist.com.au

Should you need to contact Cancer Council Victoria directly about a distribution from the estate you can reach us at  estates@cancervic.org.au or via post:
Attn: Gifts in Wills & Estates team
Cancer Council Victoria, 615 St Kilda Road Melbourne Vic 3004

Information required by Bequest Assist when processing an estate on behalf of Cancer Council Victoria

If you are administering an estate which includes a gift to Cancer Council Victoria, please notify our estates management service Bequest Assist as early as possible with the following:

  • Deceased full name and last address
  • Date of death
  • Grant of Probate or a copy of the final Will

In addition to the above and depending on the type of gift being left to Cancer Council Victoria, we may require additional information (e.g. statement of assets and liabilities) or request that the gift be provided to Cancer Council Victoria in a certain way (e.g. the transfer of any shares, in-specie).

Create your Will online

To support people writing their Will, Cancer Council Victoria has partnered with one of Australia's leading online Will’s writing platforms, Safewill.

Through the online service that Safewill offers, you can produce a simple, legally binding Will that is reviewed by Safewill's legal advisers. This will help you protect the people and charities that mean the most to you.

Organising your Will online helps you create an official legal document and complete your Will in less than 20 minutes. Our partnership with Safewill offers a discounted rate of 20% allowing you to prepare your Will today for $150. Making writing a Will easy and affordable.

After you have taken care of your loved ones, you may also wish to leave a gift to Cancer Council Victoria.  A gift of as little as 1% of your estate can make a serious difference for a cancer free future.

Complete your Will today

Changing an existing Will

If you already have a Will, a cost-effective way to include a gift to Cancer Council Victoria is by a short legal amendment or adding a CODOCIL to your Will.  Please check with your solicitor to see if the CODICIL is appropriate for the changes you wish to make.

Already left a gift in your Will to Cancer Council Victoria?

If you have chosen to support Cancer Council Victoria in this very generous and personal way, we would be delighted to hear from you so that we can say thank you and invite you to join our Daffodil Circle with other like-minded Victorians.

You can let us know by simply contacting our Gifts in Wills team.

Though you can be assured of confidentiality, you are not obliged to inform us.

Other resources

Will Planner

Accredited Wills and Estates Specialist

Legal Help

Types of gifts

Any gift that you include in your Will – big or small (even just 1% of your estate) – will help build a better future for those impacted by cancer.

Cancer Council Victoria believes that you should provide for your loved ones first. After that, there are many ways that you can include a gift in your Will (bequest). Here are five ways people include gifts to Cancer Council Victoria in their Wills:

Residuary gift

A residuary gift is a portion of your estate, or the balance remaining after loved ones and expenses are provided for.

This type of gift reflects your intention at the time you draw up your Will and should not decrease in value over time, as it automatically adjusts to changes in the value of your estate.

Percentage gift

A percentage gift is a nominated percentage of your whole estate. This type of gift will adjust its value over time as the value of your estate changes.

Whole of estate

You can choose to leave your entire estate to Cancer Council Victoria.

A set amount

You can leave a specific sum of money. If you would like a gift of money to keep its value over the years, it is a sensible idea to ask your solicitor to index-link it.

A specific item

You can leave specific items of value such as shares or real estate.

Want to learn more?

Leaving a gift in your Will isn’t as difficult as you might think. However, if have any questions or would like to talk to someone about it, you can reach our Gifts in Wills team members Abi or Mel by calling 03 9514 6828, or emailing giftsinwills@cancervic.org.au.