Thank you for taking the time to explore World Vision’s Wills and Bequests programme.

As well as donating money during their lifetime, many people choose to acknowledge a favourite charity in their will, by leaving a bequest. A bequest is a special gift of cash or assets that you leave in your will to a person or organisation. After taking care of your loved ones in your will, you might like to also leave a gift to World Vision.

A bequest can assist World Vision in New Zealand and overseas to help bring hope and relief to people trapped in poverty or life-threatening situations.

Here are some examples of how bequests from World Vision supporters have helped to improve lives around the world.

To make a bequest you need to have a will. Making a will is essential, whatever your age. If you haven’t made a will, your money and possessions may not be distributed as you wish. You should always seek legal advice to ensure your will is correctly prepared.

If you already have made a will you will only need to make a few changes by completing a codicil – a legal supplement to a will, which changes or amends part of that will.

Since we are unlikely to receive your bequest until far into the future, its terms should be as general as possible. Please consult us if you are considering a bequest for a specific purpose/project.

Download a codicil form

If substantial changes are to be made, we advise you to contact your solicitor to draft a fresh will, to avoid any errors.

Please contact us if you have any questions regarding bequests or call World Vision on 0800 800 776

If you are planning to leave a gift to World Vision in your will, please let us know so we can thank you and acknowledge you on behalf of the many lives you will change.

World Vision New Zealand is a Trust Board incorporated under the Charitable Trust Act 1957(Charities Act 2005 registration #CC25984).

In many poverty-stricken communities, contaminated water and poor sanitation often leads to water borne diseases. The result is illness and death, especially among young children.

In Dahod, India 50% of the wells, hand pumps and bores were not working or posed a health hazard because of dirty water. Bequests from World Vision enabled staff to repair the wells and teach the people how to maintain them for the future.

Many communities in the developing world suffer from chronic food shortages and an inadequate diet due to low quality seeds and poor growing conditions.

Through World Vision’s Wills and Bequests Programme farmers in Banswara, India, have received high yielding vegetable and cash crop seeds and irrigation systems to increase the variety of vegetables grown, this increases the health of the community and provides cash crops for income generation.

When poor hard-working families increase their household incomes, the entire community is strengthened. Microenterprise programmes such as VisionFund can help even the poorest entrepreneurs build a business.

World Vision’s Bequests programme has helped establish VisionFund in Cambodia. Bo Phon is a successful Khmer noodle maker who through VisionFund has managed to expand her business and provide for her family.

Life to the full – and a legacy to match

When former nurse Marian Knaggs passed away in 2001, World Vision had no way of knowing the inspirational woman would leave a lasting legacy of $650,000 on the organisation.

Miss Knaggs owned and ran the Bellevue Private Hospital on Mt Eden Rd, Auckland, for 33 years. She was still living at the registered geriatric medical hospital, when she died at the age of 84. It had been a maternity hospital and in 1968 Miss Knaggs converted it into a geriatric hospital that eventually had 24 beds. She added to its grounds and provided staff accommodation by buying up neighbouring houses. The properties were sold in 2004.

When chartered accountant Greg Kasper met Miss Knaggs, he was a young partner in the firm McCulloch Butler and Spence, and was assigned to help her with business affairs.

“I was the new boy on the block, and I began advising her in the mid-70s,” recalls Mr Kasper.

“She was a very astute businesswoman who followed the principle of watching the pennies and the pounds would grow.

“She was always very formal, and always called me ‘Mr Kasper’. Every registered nurse in her hospital was called ‘Sister’.”

Miss Knaggs loved to travel and would visit unusual and adventurous places – she had a matron in charge of the hospital, freeing her to roam the globe. “She was very aware of what was going on in the world,” says Mr Kasper.

Auckland’s Baptist Tabernacle was her home church and the hospital and her cats were her world. Miss Knaggs had a strong personality and was a force to be reckoned with!

“I’ve seen grown men cringe when she told them what she thought of their work,” smiles Mr Kasper.

A number of charities benefited from Miss Knaggs’ legacy and her business acumen, and during her life she was also generous to several organisations. Her kindness extended to her staff, and her concern for them meant the hospital could carry on as a business for a few years after her death.

Please contact us if you have any questions regarding bequests or call World Vision on 0800 800 776