Gifts From Your Estate
Bequests
A bequest from your estate is the most common way to benefit heirs including charitable organizations like the Land Trust.
Will: Bequests can easily be made from your Will. Naming the Finger Lakes Land Trust as a beneficiary can provide flexibility in estate planning. Bequests have no out-of-pocket cost, and the value of the bequest to the Land Trust will reduce the taxable estate. Specific assets may be given to the Land Trust; e.g. cash, securities, real estate, or the donor may leave the Land Trust a percentage of his or her estate.
Living Trust: A bequest can also be made from a Revocable Living Trust. Like a Will, A Living Trust is created during lifetime with your legal counsel. Unlike a Will, the living trust is not subject to probate. Distributing assets from the estate through a Living Trust protects the privacy of the decedent’s last wishes.
Retirement Plans: You can make a bequest from your IRAs, 403 (b), 401 (k), Keogh, and other Simplified Employee Pension plans. Typically, other forms of tax-deferred retirement plans are rolled over into an IRA, and a gift to the Land Trust is made from the IRA. The owner of the IRA names the Land Trust as beneficiary on forms provided by the Plan Admininstrator.*
Life Insurance:You may give an existing insurance policy, which is no longer needed for its original purpose, or create a new policy for the Land Trust by naming the Land Trust as the beneficiary on the forms provided by the Insurance Carrier. NOTE: Premium payments made by the donor are deductible as a charitable gift IF the donor irrevocably names the Land Trust as the beneficiary AND as the owner of the policy.
*Neither a gift from a retirement plan nor from life insurance can be created through a Will or a Living Revocable Trust.A completed beneficiary Form from the plan administrator or from the insurance carrier is required.
Gifts that Provide an Income for Life
More and more individuals are creating irrevocable charitable gifts that provide them with an income for their lifetime; e.g. charitable remainder trust. For some, the receipt and retention of an income benefit enables a donor to give away the principal. The income is typically paid over the lifetime of the income beneficiaries, who are often the donors. After the death of the last income beneficiary, the remainder reverts to the Land Trust.
For more information, contact the FLLT office at (607)275-9487.
