Estate Planning

We rarely pause long enough in our busy pursuits – raising a family, working toward career goals, and accumulating assets – to find out exactly where we are both personally and financially. We dutifully fill out countless forms from government agencies and other places, yet we never seem to complete one of the most important records for ourselves – a personal estate planning record.

Such a record can serve many valuable purposes:

Provide important personal information about you and your family that will be most helpful to your executor when it comes time to settle your estate.
Serve as the basis for creating your estate plan and providing for the future well-being of your family and the causes you care about most.
Serve as a basis from which to determine what your estate taxes would be under various plans of distribution.

You owe it to yourself and your family to complete your personal estate planning record. Keep in mind that, as you progress with your estate planning, your attorney should counsel you on all aspects of your plans as well as draft all legal documents.

We also offer you services to assist you at the outset or after you have completed your record. Together we can incorporate a giving plan into your estate planning that responds to your charitable inclinations and meets your needs now and your family’s needs in the future.

The Next Steps

Once you have completed this estate planning record, you are ready to meet with your attorney and other professional advisors for their important counsel and the drafting of necessary documents. We hope that as part of your planning you will consider making a bequest or other planned gift to our organization.

A generous gift or bequest to us should not supplant your personal and family concerns, of course. However, you will reap benefits from your philanthropy that have very practical, desirable consequences...

Income Tax Benefits

Our government encourages your contributions to qualified charitable organizations such as ours by providing for charitable deductions on your income tax returns.

Reduce estate taxes and probate costs

Gifts to a qualified charitable organization, either now or after your lifetime, avoid federal estate tax. A contribution now can also reduce probate costs later.

Lifetime income

You can receive an income for life through a planned gift. You may also relinquish investment responsibilities for the assets to a knowledgeable trustee, confident that trust activities will be handled productively and responsibly.

Personal satisfaction

Many people are motivated by the pure satisfaction of helping others. This feeling can be magnified by the heartwarming gratitude of the persons or organizations you benefit.

If you are planning a gift or bequest to us, we would be glad to explain ways you can be sure your benevolence is practical, providing the utmost benefits for you, your family, and us. Contact us so we can explain the choices available to you – without obligation.