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Loving Paws has joined with Leave a Legacy, Bay Area in encouraging supporters and those who have benefited from the work of Loving Paws to remember us with gifts in their wills. To designate Loving Paws as a beneficiary in your will, you should consult with your attorney and amend your will. If you have not already provided for the disposition of your estate, you should contact an attorney to have a will drawn up.
What You Can Do to Leave a Legacy?
Here's a list of the Top 10 Things you can do to ensure that your wishes for Loving Paws are provided for. Click on these links for more information about Wills and Charitable Remainder Trusts.
Top 10 Things You Can Do Today To Leave a Legacy
- Prepare a will. Only 50% of those who pass away have one. Without a will, you may lose control over your belongings. (Click here for additional information about wills.)
- Leave a gift in your will for Loving Paws Assistance Dogs. Imagine the positive impact on our community if everyone made a donation to Loving Paws. Did you know that less than 6% of American households have included nonprofits in an estate plan? In a recent year there were approximately 2 million deaths in the United States. Of those decedents, only half of 1% of the estates valued at $600,000 or more included charitable bequests.
- Leave a specific dollar amount or a percentage of the assets in your will to Loving Paws.
- Consider using assets for your charitable gift. These include but aren’t limited to: stocks, bonds, CD’s, real estate, vehicles, art and jewelry. Such gifts may even provide tax savings.
- Name Loving Paws Assistance Dogs as the beneficiary of your pension plan or IRA.
- Purchase a new life insurance policy naming Loving Paws Assistance Dogs as the beneficiary.
- Name Loving Paws Assistance Dogs as the beneficiary of an existing life insurance policy.
- Remember loved ones with memorial gifts.
- Encourage family and friends to leave gifts to Loving Paws in their wills.
- Ask your financial advisor to include charitable giving as part of counsel to clients
Giving Through Your Will
How it Works:
A will is a formal legal document in which you specify how you wish your property to be disposed of after your death. If you should die without a will, your lifetime accumulation of wealth will be distributed according to state laws - regardless of family wishes. Fortunately, making a will is not complicated when it is done with legal assistance.
Providing for a charitable gift in your will can easily be accomplished by including a bequest to Loving Paws. "Bequest" is simply a term used to describe a gift in your will specifying that a certain percentage of your estate, a particular asset, or a specific dollar amount is to be directed to Loving Paws. When you make a bequest to charity, your estate is entitled to a charitable gift deduction for the full value of the bequest.
What to Do:
A bequest can be for an unrestricted or designated gift in the form of cash, property or securities. It can also take the form of a "residual legacy" whereby a charity receives all or a portion of whatever remains of your estate after all debts, taxes, expenses and other bequests have been dispensed. Should you wish to make a bequest through your will, you can contact a financial planner, attorney or other professional to assist you with the appropriate legal wording.
Benefits to You:
- You have the use of your assets during your lifetime.
- There are many options to ensure your bequest is personally meaningful.
- Your estate receives a charitable gift deduction.
- A bequest is a revocable gift and can be altered at any time should your circumstances change.
To Illustrate:
Suppose that, in her will, a widow leaves $100,000 to Loving Paws Assistance Dogs and leaves the remainder of her estate to her two children. Assuming the net income on her final tax return is large enough for the entire bequest to be claimed for a charitable gift deduction, the bequest may result in combined federal and state tax savings of approximately $50,000. [f she had left the $100,000 to her children, taxes would have consumed that part of it, leaving them with $50,000.
Charitable Remainder Trusts
How it Works:
A Charitable Remainder Trust is a deferred giving arrangement under which you may transfer property (cash, securities or real estate) to a trustee. You (and/or other beneficiaries) retain the right to the income from the trust either for life or for a specified number of years. Loving Paws receives whatever remains in trust after the specified term, or after the death of the last beneficiary - whichever has been stipulated in the trust document.
Donors who establish a Charitable Remainder Trust receive a charitable gift deduction for the present value of the future gift (the "charitable remainder") which Loving Paws will receive when the trust terminates. That value is calculated based on actuarial tables, taking into account the value of the property transferred to the trust, interest rates, the age of each beneficiary, or the term of the trust fit is for a specific number of years.
What to Do:
There are two types of Charitable Remainder Trusts: irrevocable (which means you can't change your mind) and revocable. If you choose an irrevocable Charitable Remainder Trust, you receive a charitable gift deduction now for the present value of the remainder trust. If you opt for a revocable trust, your estate will receive the charitable gift deduction when the assets are delivered to Loving Paws.
If you are thinking about establishing a trust, you should review the tax implications with your estate planner or accountant. Drafting a trust document requires the assistance of an attorney to tailor the trust to your own circumstances.
Benefits to You:
- You receive an immediate charitable gift deduction for the present value of residual interest.
- You have the benefit of income from your assets throughout your lifetime.
- Your trust is professionally managed.
- You can avoid tax on a portion of; and possibly all, capital gain.
To Illustrate:
Suppose that a 70-year-old widower wants to establish an endowment fund for a Loving Paws, but cannot afford to give up any investment income. He transfers property worth $250,000 (7%) to a Charitable Remainder Trust from which his income will be approximately $17,500 a year for his lifetime. When he funds the trust, he receives a charitable gift deduction for $90,611. After his death, the trust principle will be used to create the endowment. |
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