Have You Included Us in Your Estate Plan?

Looking back over our lives we may remember someone or some organization that provided some kind of assistance to us or to someone we knew at a time when it was badly needed. Perhaps it was a loan or some food at a time when money was tight. Or perhaps a scholarship provided that needed funding to help them or you get a college education.

As we look around us, we see needs that must be met: human service agencies and beneficial community projects that need funding, or people in need. It may be a food bank, an arts program, a health clinic, or any of dozens of projects that you think are important.

Charitable organizations like those that the Community Foundation of the Virginias, Inc. supports, need financial assistance from people like you to continue their work. The Foundation supports its service area by awarding grants to nonprofit organizations in four areas of interest: Health, Education, Human Services, and the Arts and Humanities, and by awarding scholarships to deserving area students.

Surveys show that more than 80 percent of Americans donate to charitable organizations that support projects and organizations they think are important, but research also shows that only about eight percent continue that support through a charitable bequest.

What better way to thank the people or organizations that have had an impact on your life, or that have assisted causes that you value, than to make a contribution from your estate through a bequest? Through planned giving, you can continue to help organizations that are making an important difference in your community.

Data from the Internal Revenue Service indicates that charitable estate-based giving from the wealthiest Americans has been declining for many years, and that significantly fewer adults have wills today than in 2000.

And yet charitable giving and estate-based bequests are known to be a most satisfying way for Americans to help their fellow man and their community.

Charitable giving is not only for the wealthy! All gifts, both large and small, are important, and the Community Foundation stands ready to assist you in achieving your charitable goals.

Charitable Bequests

A charitable bequest is simply a distribution from your estate to a charitable organization through your last will and testament. However, there are different kinds of bequests, and each requires very specific language to indicate the precise direction of your assets, and to successfully carry out your wishes. In any charitable bequest, be sure to name the recipient accurately. A bequest to “The Cancer Society” might go to national headquarters, when you meant it to go to the affiliate in your community.

Do you have an estate?

Your “estate” is the sum of your assets, including property you own, insurance policies, retirement accounts, cash on hand, etc., and even people who aren’t wealthy often have the resources to make a charitable bequest. According to “Leave A Legacy,” if every adult in America made a will and included a bequest of just $100, billions of dollars would flow to charitable causes every year.

Below are some of the more common kinds of bequests. You should carefully review the terms of your will with a professional trained in handling trusts and estates.

General Bequests are legacies left to certain people or causes that come from the general value of the estate, and are made by designating a specific dollar amount, a particular asset or a fixed percentage of your estate to the cause of your choice.

Specific Bequests are made when a particular item or property is bequeathed for a designated purpose. (i.e., instruments bequeathed to the local school district for use in music education; dollar funds to be used in the operation of a school or church.)

Residuary Bequests are made when you intend to leave the residue portion of your assets after other terms of the will have been satisfied.

Contingency Bequests allow you to leave a portion of your estate to a particular charity if your named beneficiary does not survive you.

Without a will, there is no mechanism in place to make a bequest, so here are the steps you should take to make sure your wishes are followed:

● Make a list of organizations or causes that you would like to support.

● Make a detailed list of your assets (financial, real estate, vehicles, jewelry, collectibles, musical instruments, etc.)

● Set up an appointment with your financial analyst or attorney, or planned giving officer at the organization you intend to support.

         These professionals will help sensitively guide you through the process.