- Wills can be quite technical, and we recommend that you prepare yours with the assistance of an independent legal advisor to ensure your wishes are properly reflected.
- We are also happy to discuss putting in place an Intention to Bequest in which you can set out more details about the spirit and intent of your gift’s purpose.
- We also greatly appreciate knowing when RMIT has been included as a beneficiary under your Will, so please be in touch with our philanthropy team so we can discuss your gift via giving@rmit.edu.au.
RMIT is so grateful for the support we receive from all our benefactors. Thank you for considering RMIT for inclusion in your Will, future generations of students will benefit from your generosity enormously.
A bequest is a gift in your Will. Leaving a bequest to RMIT is simple and will help shape our future, benefiting students, the University and the community for years to come.
Silvia's generous bequest
After reading about another donor who had created their own scholarship, RMIT alumnus Silvia Tejedor decided to create a scholarship of her own, by leaving a bequest in her Will.
Like Silvia, many donors choose to leave a gift to RMIT in their will, called a bequest. Bequests can fund scholarships, prizes, support research or campus development, depending on the wishes of the donor.
"Now I'm at a stage of my life where I'd like to contribute something towards RMIT, particularly to encourage girls to do electronics, science or engineering," says Silvia. "At the moment I don't have the amount of money on hand to give to a scholarship, but I know when I die there will be some money which my husband and my children will inherit. So I made a bequest in my will to put aside a little of that money to create a scholarship."
The scholarship is Silvia's way of giving back to RMIT and to continue her legacy. "I did come from a poor background, and I made a better life thanks to the facilities, education and people here in Australia. So I want to give back. I think it's very important that we all do that," she says.
I hope my passion for education lives on. I hope whoever receives the scholarship or prize will then do the same for someone else too.
How to leave a gift in your Will
Gifting a portion of your estate (residuary bequest)
- I give[insert percent]% of my residuary estate to the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (ABN 49 781 030 034) (“RMIT”) for its general purposes.
Gifting a specific amount
- I give $[insert dollar amount] to the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (ABN 49 781 030 034) (“RMIT”) for its general purposes.
- If you are giving a specific dollar amount, we ask that you consider including words to manage inflation and to ensure a consistent value for the gift, as follows:
- Inflation
- The amount given to RMIT is to be adjusted for inflation by applying the following formula: N = (S x B) / A; where:
- N is the adjusted amount payable to RMIT;
- S is the amount of the RMIT Bequest;
- B is the Consumer Price Index All Groups, Weighted Average of Eight Capital Cities (“CPI”) figure published quarterly by the Australian Bureau of Statistics immediately before the date of my death; and
- A is the CPI quarterly figure published immediately before the date of this my will.
- If at the time of my death the CPI is no longer calculated and published on a quarterly basis, then I direct my executors to adjust the bequest for inflation using such other statistic or measure as is chosen by my executors in their absolute discretion.
If there is a particular purpose you wish your bequest to be used for, you can describe it; however we recommend you also use the following words, so that we can still pursue your intended purpose generally, in case circumstances change and we can no longer apply the funds as you have specifically set out:
Research
- I give [insert % of my residuary estate / $ dollar amount] to the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (ABN 49 781 030 034) (“RMIT”), without creating a binding trust, for the purpose of [research into the field of [e.g.cancer, engineering, social work, etc] / establishing one or more scholarships and/or bursaries for [insert general field of study / recipient cohort, such as students from a first or second generation refugee family], or otherwise such as RMIT determines to be within the spirit of that purpose, if RMIT considers that purpose cannot reasonably be fulfilled.
Scholarships
- I give [insert % of my residuary estate / $ dollar amount] to the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (ABN 49 781 030 034) (“RMIT”), without creating a binding trust, for the purpose of establishing one or more scholarships for [insert general field of study / recipient cohort, such as students from a first or second generation refugee family], [to be called [the name] scholarship], or otherwise such as RMIT determines to be within the spirit of that purpose, if RMIT considers that purpose cannot reasonably be fulfilled.
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