Overwhelmed by the thought of writing a Will? You don’t have to be.
Anneke Liefting, our Individual Giving Manager, shares her tips for leaving a lasting legacy.
Like most people, I don’t like to think about the fact that my life could end at any moment. We live in a culture that idealises youth and resents the realities of being mortal. The problem is this mindset means we’re often naïve about the loose ends we will leave behind in our passing. We hope that our loved ones will miss us and we might even leave instructions for our funeral. But we can do our bit to lighten the burden on them too.
This month is Wills Month in Aotearoa, which is all about tackling the taboo of talking about dying. It’s also a great time to think carefully about the resources we have, and how they might be put to good use when we’re gone. Thinking about our own demise might sound morbid, but leaving a gift in your Will is one of the kindest things we can do for society. And the good news is that writing a Will is much easier than you might think.
Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand has teamed up with Gathered Here, a safe and free platform for writing your first Will. It takes less than ten minutes to write your Will with their easy-to-use online resources, and it doesn’t cost you anything at all. You might want to talk to someone who you love and trust to help you decide how to allocate resources. Maybe your friends would cherish your clothing, or perhaps there’s someone in your family who would really benefit from inheriting your car. When it comes to making a gift to a charity like Amnesty, there are a few different options to think about: you could leave a specific amount of money, a specific item or asset, or a percentage of the total value of your estate.
Most of us think that writing our Wills is something we should do when we’re older. I have been putting off writing my Will for so long now that I put it on my list of goals for 2024 (along with learning to bake focaccia.) In fact, all of us can – and should – think about what we want to do with the things we’ll leave behind. That might mean money, but it also applies to anything that we own. Leaving clear instructions for your friends and family can help avoid confusion (or conflict), and it means that you have final say over where your belongings end up.
I know from first-hand experience that not having a Will makes things a lot worse for everyone. Dealing with admin is the last thing you want to do when your heart has been broken, but it’s a non-negotiable necessity, and one that can be much less challenging if there are plans laid out in a Will. While we might think that we know our loved ones and the types of things they care about, we can’t always guess where they would want their gifts to go.
As a professional fundraiser, my job is all about helping people to live out their values by contributing to a cause that they care about. At Amnesty International, we know the transformative potential that Wills can have in saving lives and changing society for the better. When someone leaves a gift for Amnesty in their Will, it gives us the resources we need to keep empowering those who are otherwise powerless.
With these generous gifts, we can continue our fearless research into human rights abuses and hold those responsible to account. We can continue campaigning for better policies and practices that help all people flourish here in Aotearoa and around the world. A person’s death will always be a time of sadness, but we can find joy in knowing that these gifts will help us change the lives of countless other people for good.
Ultimately, the way we write our Will is a reflection of who we are and what we care about. That’s why I’m giving some thought to what I want to leave behind (beyond the memory of my baking skills.)
We all live on in the hearts and minds of those who love us, but writing a Will helps to keep our values alive in more tangible ways. It might sound counterintuitive, but leaving a gift in your Will can turn your death into a powerful force for positive change in society.
If you want future generations to flourish, then let protecting human rights be your legacy.