Including a charitable bequest to the Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation in your estate planning is a wonderful way for you to benefit a cause that is important to you, and to leave a legacy.
Charitable bequests are very flexible.
With a bequest to the Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation, you can make a commitment without spending anything now since the bequest will be paid upon your death and you wouldn’t be dipping into your current assets or current cash flow. Your bequest can be easily changed down the road if you wish to modify it. And, depending on the size of your estate and the estate tax laws in effect as of the time of your death, your estate might benefit from estate tax savings.
- A bequest included in your will or revocable trust is easy to set up with your attorney’s assistance. Bequests usually are made in one of two ways…either a gift of a specific dollar amount (or a gift of a specific asset), or a percentage of your estate.
- Naming the Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation as a beneficiary of your retirement account or life insurance is a very easy way to benefit the foundation. Your retirement account, or any portion of it, can easily be left to the Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation. Upon your death, the funds held in your retirement account are distributed to the beneficiaries you have named in the “beneficiary designation” you have completed. You can name individuals or charities, or a combination of the two as beneficiaries, though care has to be taken when combining individuals and charities in one beneficiary designation. When retirement funds pass to an individual beneficiary, he or she must pay income tax on the amounts withdrawn (and there are often time restrictions specifying how quickly the funds must be withdrawn); whereas, when the funds pass to the Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation, the foundation receives 100% of the funds…completely free of any income tax.
- The Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation can also be named as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy. It can also be named as a co-beneficiary with individuals, such as family members, or as a contingent beneficiary, to receive the funds if the primary beneficiary dies before the insured person.
- Lastly, many states provide that beneficiary designations can be set up for bank or brokerage accounts. This is accomplished by setting up a “POD” (payable on death) or “TOD” (transfer on death) account at a bank or brokerage firm.
Please remember the Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation in your estate plan.
If you have already included the Foundation in your estate plans, please contact the office so our staff can thank you for your gift and keep you informed of our ongoing activities.
If you are considering making a planned gift and have not yet decided the form of your gift, please contact your estate planner.
Suggested Wording:
“I hereby bequeath the sum of $ as a charitable bequest to the Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation (Tax ID 38-3443135), Warren, Michigan, to be used for the charitable purposes of such organization.”
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