Planned Giving Options
Wills
A will is the easiest and most effective means to ensure that you fully
provide for your family and that your assets are distributed as you wish.
Giving this
way has several advantages: charitable gifts made through your will are deductible
for estate-tax purposes and thus may place your estate in a lower estate-tax
bracket. You may specify that your bequest is used for general purposes of
the Bazelon Center or for a particular area of interest.
Here are two examples
of how a bequest to the Bazelon Center can be worded.
" I give, devise and bequeath to the Judge David L. Bazelon Center
for Mental Health Law, for its general purposes all (or state fraction or
percentage) of
the rest,
residue, and remainder of my estate, both real or personal.
or:
" I give, devise, and bequeath to the Judge David L. Bazelon Center
for Mental Health Law, the sum of $______ to be used for the general purposes
of
the Center."
Life Insurance
By transferring ownership of a life insurance policy to the Bazelon
Center and making us the beneficiary, you receive the maximum possible tax
benefits, which
may include a full deduction of the policy's cost basis or cash surrender
value.
If you prefer, you can benefit the Bazelon Center without transferring ownership
of the policy and at the same time reduce the taxable amount of your estate.
Simply list the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law as the
beneficiary or as an alternate beneficiary.
Real Estate
By making an outright gift of property to the Bazelon Center, you
receive an immediate tax deduction of its full value. You can gain substantial
benefits,
even if you wish to continue occupying the property for your lifetime,
by transferring ownership to the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental
Health Law and retaining
the right to reside there.
Charitable Remainder Trusts
By establishing a trust with the Judge David L.
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law as beneficiary, you receive immediate
tax benefits, based on your age and
the amount of the trust. You can still receive regular payments of the income
earned by the assets in the trust for your lifetime or the lifetime of any
beneficiary you choose.
Retirement Plans
Retirement plans deserve special attention, because a distribution
after the employee's death could be subject both to income tax in the year
of death and
to estate taxes on whatever remains, and excess accumulations could cost
you another 15-percent excise tax. Naming a tax-exempt beneficiary, such as
the
Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, would ensure that 100
percent
of your hard-earned money is used for a cause you care about, not whittled
away by taxes.
Living Trusts
These popular trusts can allow your estate to avoid costly probate
and protect your assets so that your wishes are carried out. You transfer all
your assets
to a trust you set up on paper and appoint yourself as trustee to administer
it, thus retaining full power over the trust assets during your lifetime. After
you die, the person you named in your trust document to be "successor
trustee" takes
over and distributes the assets to the family, friends and/or charities you
named as the trust beneficiaries.
You should seek the advice of your tax counsel
as you consider any of these approaches. For more information about how you
can use planned giving to help the Bazelon
Center sustain its advocacy for people with mental disabilities, send an
email to our development director or call or write to:
Director of Development
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
1101 15th St. NW, Ste. 1212
Washington, DC 20005
202-467-5730 ext. 124
|
