Many people I know, have left money to various charities in their Wills as either specific asset gifts or specific amounts to be paid out of the proceeds of the assets of the Estate.

It is certainly a wonderful thing to contemplate and these gifts are relied upon by the charities in undertaking the wonderful work that they do.

However – yes, there is a but - there is a reason why I would never leave specific gifts to a charity and why I always counsel against my clients doing it.

To appreciate the issue, you need some context:

I am currently a co-executor with the deceased's elderly sister. She lives in far north Queensland on a rural property so dealing with matters for her has been difficult. The deceased left significant gifts to seven charities.

Unfortunately, there was an issue with the Will which required an application to the Courts for interpretation, which delayed the granting of probate. In this case, probate was required to allow us, as executors, to deal with the assets of the Estate. Consequently we had our hands tied for almost eight months from the date of death.

The Estate did not have sufficient cash assets to payout the gifts as per the Will, without selling assets - which we could not do until we had probate.

Within five months of being able to deal with the Estate assets we made payment to the charities of the specific gift amounts as provided for in the Will. However, this was 12 months after the date of death.

Queensland's Succession Act 1981 s52 provides that, from 12 months of the date of death until payment of the gift, the gift amount will accrue an interest amount at the rate of 8 per cent per annum. These charities within hours of receiving gifts, in excess of $150,000 in some cases, were sending me letters stating that they were expecting - in fact demanding - the payment of 8% on the funds.

I know and accept that many may well say that they are only doing their job, but as someone who has had to deal with it on many occasions - and often due to issues with realisation of funds to facilitate the gift - I find it difficult to come to terms with.

End result is: the funds going to the final beneficiary of the estate (an elderly women) are going to be $76,125 less and the charities are receiving an 8% return on their funds . I am not saying not to make a provision for a gift, but I am saying there are better ways of doing it that will avoid this issue, than putting it in your Will.