Bequests

Naming "Royal Guide Dogs for the Blind Association of Tasmania" in your Will means that you can assist people with blindness tomorrow with your donation in your will today.

How often do you hear people say, "I don't have a will, because I do not have much to leave" but a lot of those people only consider the cash in the bank, they do not consider their biggest asset, their property.

If you do not have a Will, you then lose the right to leave your assets where you want them to go.

Making a Will

When you make a Will, your first priority is to consider your family. You should provide your Solicitor with your personal information and who you would like to inherit part of your estate.

If you already have a Will, you may need to review it to make sure it continues to reflect your concerns for family and friends and your favourite charities. With your Solicitor, you can make minor changes or additions to your Will, this is called a Codicil.

Once you have considered your family and friends, you may consider leaving a bequest in your Will to "Royal Guide Dogs for the Blind Association of Tasmania".

Some of the options on how to leave a gift to the Association:

• A sum of money
• A percentage of your Estate
• The residue (remainder of your estate after bequests have been distributed)
• Real Estate, shares
• Life Insurance

Supporting the Training of a Guide Dog

You may wish to consider leaving a gift of money to train a Guide Dog. If this is the case you may like to name the Guide Dog after a family member or after a beloved pet (sometimes it is better to pick two names, one female and one male, as we often have more of one gender than the other). We are happy to discuss this with you,and this should be refected in your Will.

Whatever your decision, whether you would like your gift to go to a particular area, we will gladly honour your requests and wishes.

Friends for Life

As a supporter of Guide Dogs Tasmania, perhaps you have already included us in your estate plans. Please let us know about your bequest so we can thank you and name you as one of our 'Friends for Life'.

A gold plaque on our recognition tree in the foyer of Guide Dogs Tasmania Head Office honours our 'Friends for Life' members. If you prefer to remain anonymous in your generosity, we will respect that decision.

Your generous support for Guide Dogs Tasmania means that you are playing a significant role in providing freedom and confidence to blind or vision impaired people. It takes an incredible amount of time and money to train a Guide Dog that will eventually become the eyes and trusted companion of someone who is blind or vision impaired.

Many of our donors recognise the importance of supporting Guide Dogs Tasmania and make the decision to continue to support even after their death. These people have generously set aside a gift for Guide Dogs Tasmania in their Will. For them, this gift signifies a lasting, meaningful contribution that impacts the future of our children and the generations that follow.

Today, we hope that you will take the time to make a decision to include Guide Dogs Tasmania in your estate plans and by doing so become a 'Friend for Life'.

For further information about us and how to support the future work of Guide Dogs Tasmania, please call (03) 6232 1222.