The following might be a useful guideline for you and your solicitor to consider when choosing to leave a Gift in your Will to NeuRA:
"I give [insert details of amount/assets/interest in Estate] to Neuroscience Research Australia Foundation (ABN 57 008 429 961) to be applied for the purpose of research into diseases and conditions of the brain and nervous system.
The receipt of the treasurer, secretary or public officer for the time being of Neuroscience Research Australia Foundation is an absolute discharge to my Executors."
Should you wish to designate your Gift to a particular aspect of our research, such as Parkinson’s disease or other neurodegenerative research, you would add a sentence to that effect in the first paragraph.
It could read:
"I express the wish that the gift be applied for research into Parkinson’s disease and other associated disorders…"
There are four options you can choose from when leaving a Bequest to the institute:
If you have any questions or would like to discuss, in confidence, this important decision, please do not hesitate to contact Leonie Harle (l [dot] harle [at] neura [dot] edu [dot] au, Community Liaison & Bequest Manager on 1300 888 019 or (02) 9399 1153 (direct).
When he was in his sixties, Joan Heaney’s younger brother, Brian, developed a degenerative brain disorder, related to Parkinson’s disease, called corticobasal degeneration.
Joan was devastated. "Brian was like a second dad to my daughters. He and my husband were great mates; he was more than just a brother-in-law.
Brian gradually lost the ability to control his body and speech. "When he was little, Brian couldn’t say ‘Joan’ so he called me ‘La La’. Near the end, when he could no longer speak or move, he could still say ‘La La’ to me and follow me with his eyes to let me know he was still there," says Joan.
When Brian died, he had already made the decision to donate his brain to research in the hope that, one day, NeuRA would discover a cure for his disease. "Brian felt so passionately about this that I thought, I’m going to leave a gift in my Will to NeuRA," says Joan.
"I have a lot of confidence in research," she says. "My grandson’s girlfriend is studying neuroscience at university at the moment. That gives me hope that a cure for this disease will be discovered one day."
