Ida Martin Society

Bequests

You may be looking for a way to make a significant gift to help further our mission. A bequest is a gift made through your will or trust. It is one of the most popular and flexible ways that you can support our mission.

 

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF MAKING A BEQUEST?

• You leave a lasting legacy to be remembered
• You lessen the burden of taxes on your family
• You may receive estate tax savings

 

HOW DO I MAKE A BEQUEST?

A bequest is one of the easiest gifts to make. With the help of an advisor, you can include language in your will or trust specifying a gift be made to family, friends or Bluffton Self Help as part of your estate plan.

 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW BEQUEST LANGUAGE

 

TYPES OF BEQUESTS

There are a number of ways you can make a bequest to Bluffton Self Help.

Specific Bequest. A specific bequest involves making a gift of a specific asset such as real estate, a car, other property or a gift for a specific dollar amount. For example, you may wish to leave your home or $10,000 to Bluffton Self Help.

Percentage Bequest. Another kind of specific bequest involves leaving a specific percentage of your overall estate to charity. For example, you may wish to leave 10% of your estate to Bluffton Self Help.

Residual Bequest. A residual bequest is made from the balance of an estate after the will or trust has given away each of the specific bequests. A common residual bequest involves leaving a percentage of the residue of the estate to charity. For example, you may wish to leave 30% of the residue of your estate to Bluffton Self Help.

Contingent Bequest. A contingent bequest is made to charity only if the purpose of the primary bequest cannot be met. For example, you could leave specific property, such as a vacation home, to a relative, but the bequest language could provide that if the relative is not alive at the time of your death, the vacation home will go to Bluffton Self Help.

 

BEQUEST BENEFITS

A bequest is generally a revocable gift, which means it can be changed or modified at any time. You can choose to designate that a bequest be used for a general or specific purpose so you have the peace of mind knowing that your gift will be used as intended. Bequests are exempt from federal estate taxes. If you have a taxable estate, the estate tax charitable deduction may offset or eliminate estate taxes, resulting in a larger inheritance for your heirs.

 

RESTRICTED BEQUESTS

If you are considering a bequest but would like to ensure that your bequest will be used for a specific purpose, please let us know. We would be happy to work with you and your attorney to help you identify ways to give and meet your charitable objectives. We will also work with you and your attorney to craft language to accomplish your goals.

If you are making a restricted bequest, we recommend that your attorney include the following provision to give Bluffton Self Help flexibility should it no longer be possible for our Bluffton Self Help to use your gift as you originally intended:

If, in the judgment of the Board of Directors of Bluffton Self Help, it shall become impossible for Bluffton Self Help to use this bequest to accomplish the specific purposes of this bequest, Bluffton Self Help may use the income and principal of this gift for such purpose or purposes as the Board determines is most closely related to the restricted purpose of my bequest.

 

What are my options?

A bequest can be made in several ways:

• You can gift a specific dollar amount or asset
• You can gift a percentage of your estate
• You can gift from the balance or residue of your estate
• You can make a beneficiary designation of certain assets

 

IRA Charitable Rollover Giving

An IRA rollover allows people age 70 1/2 and older to reduce their taxable income by making a gift directly from their IRA.

 

BENEFITS OF AN IRA CHARITABLE ROLLOVER

Avoid taxes on transfers of up to $100,000 from your IRA to our organization

May satisfy your required minimum distribution (RMD) for the year

Reduce your taxable income, even if you do not itemize deductions

Make a gift that is not subject to the deduction limits on charitable gifts

Help further the work and mission of our organization

 

HOW AN IRA CHARITABLE ROLLOVER GIFT WORKS

Contact your IRA plan administrator to make a gift from your IRA to us.

Your IRA funds will be directly transferred to our organization to help continue our important work.

Please note that IRA charitable rollover gifts do not qualify for a charitable deduction.

Please contact us if you wish for your gift to be used for a specific purpose.

 

GIFTS FROM YOUR IRA

If you are 70½ or older, you can use your IRA to fulfill your charitable goals. You can use the “Make a Gift From My IRA” tool to contact your IRA custodian and make a qualified charitable distribution. We will acknowledge your generous gifts as a qualified charitable distribution, which may satisfy your RMD, if applicable.

 

Contact us

Please contact us if you have any questions about how to make a bequest to Bluffton Self Help, about an IRA charitable rollover gift or to request any additional information that might be helpful to you and your attorney as you consider making a bequest to us.

If you have included a bequest for Bluffton Self Help in your estate plan, please contact us to let us know. We would like to thank you and recognize you for your gift.