Making It Clear !

This years bushfire summer dominated the television news and we experienced week after week of scorched earth and burning homes.  Lives were lost and night after night we trawled through a vista of the smoking ruins of what had been someone's home.   In some places the residents had to wade into the sea to escape the fires.

That certainly put Australians in a donating mood and when popular comedian Celeste Barber appealed for donations the money began rolling in.  This appeal was more successful than she imagined and when the final tally appeared on the board she had raised fifty-one million dollars, and that's when the legal troubles started.

Celeste  Barber raised money for the Rural Fire Services and Brigades Donations Fund and at the time of donation the exact criteria of the disburstment was not clear.  It seems some people thought they were donating to help the victims of the fires while Celeste thought the extraordinary amount of money collected might be distributed to other charities or fire services in other states.  It very quickly was frozen, awaiting a direction from the New South Wales Supreme court.

That court has now delivered its verdict and the money can only be used to setup a fund for Rural Fire Services fire fighters who are killed or injured.  The NSW RFS  Commissioner has reported that the service planned to use about fourteen million to upgrade safety equipment, including respiratory protection and helmets, and twenty million  towards upgrades for local brigades, with the remainder undecided.

This decision underlines the importance of setting   clear objective when appeals for public funds are proposed.  This appeal commenced when vivid memories of what we had witnessed on news broadcasts was fresh in our minds.   In its finding the court said " some of the donors might have intended or hoped that their money would have been used for purposes outside of what the court has permitted, but the law provides principles surrounding trust funds and the court applied those principles ".

It is this Supreme Court that decides how a  persons assets will be distributed if they die without making a will and probably more people do die without leaving a will that makes their intentions clear.   Many people believe that they can only make a will with the help of a lawyer and some lawyers charge several hundred dollars for that service.  Shop around and ask for the price first and you will find many offering very moderate fees.

Blank will forms are also sold by newsagents for a couple of dollars and they contain the legal wording required to execute a will.  All the person making the will has to do is clearly identify himself or herself, and state to whom those assets be distributed, and name who is to ensure that happens.

Hopefully, the chaos that surrounds distribution of this fire fund donation appeal will convince people to make a will and it is also important that it be found when they die.  Once made, it would be a good idea to lodge it with your bank or the public trustee.   Perhaps more importantly, those will forms sold by newsagents are perfectly legal documents and making a will should never be constrained by cost.  One written in your own hand and properly witnessed is all it takes  !