From the heart

History of the Mervyn and Judith Muir endowment

In 2009 Dick set up the endowment as their legacy, dedicated to supporting heart research at the Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane, where Judith had spent her career as a medical typist. He decided that an endowment within the Perpetual Foundation was the right option because it would be professionally managed while still giving him oversight as to where the money was spent.

Initially Dick intended to establish the endowment through his will, but with the encouragement of his niece Nerida, he set it up during his lifetime.

“Uncle Dick was happy to see how the endowment worked while he was with us. He was very impressed with its performance and loved seeing how the money was being used for the cause he was passionate about”, says Nerida. “He liked hearing from the Prince Charles Hospital Foundation about what the funding was going towards and, as a policeman for most of his working life, he took great pleasure in investigating the detail of the research projects.”

Although Dick started the endowment with an initial donation of $50,000, with the help of his Perpetual adviser he would make an additional tax deductable donation each year.

By including donations to the endowment as part of his annual tax planning, Dick was not only able to reduce his tax liability but also grow the balance of the endowment and provide more funding towards the cause that was so important to he and his wife.

Annual grants to the Prince Charles Hospital Foundation from the Muirs’ endowment mean consistency of funding that allows researchers to build momentum in their work, potentially leading to faster medical discoveries. Michael Hornby, Prince Charles Hospital Foundation’s CEO says, “With sustainable funding from the endowment, we’re able to retain the best researchers and give them the security they need to carry out their life-saving work.  The Muir’s generosity gives our researchers an element of security in a field that struggles for ongoing funding.”

“For patients, the research that is funded at The Prince Charles Hospital has an impact on them directly. Recently, Bec Craven found out she was suffering from end stage heart failure and would need a transplant to make it to her 24th birthday. Thanks to the work being carried out on campus, Bec was able to have a mechanical heart device implanted, which allowed her the crucial time she needed to wait for the right donor heart.”

Dick passed away in 2016 and left the majority of his estate to the endowment. The Myrven and Judith Memorial Endowment now sits at over $4,800,000 (as at May 2020). It has granted more than $480,000 to helping tackle heart disease so far and will continue to support important cardiac research well into the future.

Perpetual Foundation Endowments can be set up during your lifetime while you can see the impact of your generosity or form part of a legacy through your will..