Planned
Giving
Planned Giving
Your legacy gift today, makes a lasting difference in the lives of adults with developmental disabilities.
Leave a Legacy of Generosity
A well-planned estate allows you to have an impact on future generations.
This could come in the form of an inheritance that you leave to your family or a philanthropic gift you make to a charity. A philanthropic gift is part of your legacy, one that helps ensure your chosen charity will continue to positively impact those it serves well into the future!
Simply put, Planned Giving is a gift of assets made to a charitable organization. Planned gifts can be made during your lifetime or from your estate. The type of planned gift that is appropriate for you depends on your financial situation and goals. As you go through the planning process, be sure to discuss your overall tax, financial and estate planning goals with your loved ones.
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Three Steps To Get Started
If you don’t plan ahead, your family might struggle to manage your estate. Without a will, the state could step in, and your wishes might not be honored, leaving others to decide for you. To discuss how to start the simple process of making a planned gift or for more information on joining the Our House Legacy Society, please contact Cathy Colford at ccolford@ourhousenj.org.
For legal advice, please contact Meri-Beth Robertson at mb@robertsonestateplanning.com.
iDENTIFY
Identify the people and organizations in your life that you want to benefit from your estate. Remember that giving to a local charity with proven service to your community, will have a greater impact.
Assess
Assess your estate. Don’t forget saving bonds, certificates of deposits, IRAs or other long-term investments you may have. The total value of your estate may surprise you.
Schedule
Make an appointment to see your attorney or financial advisor. Discuss your goals so he or she can help implement them, answer your questions and point you in the right direction.
We are More Than a Home
Why Support Our House Foundation?
By including Our House Foundation in your will or through another form of planned giving, you demonstrate a lasting commitment to adults with developmental disabilities in our community; your generosity not only transforms the lives of the individuals we directly serve, but also uplifts their families, friends and the broader community while fueling our ongoing mission to evolve through innovative programming and creative solutions designed to empower independence and foster meaningful inclusion for generations to come.
Be a Part of the Our House Legacy Society
When you support Our House Foundation through your will or with another type of planned gift, you reinforce your commitment to our community of adults with developmental disabilities. Supporting Our House this way can make a huge impact on lives for generations to come.
Planned Giving Can Take Many Forms
A bequest in your will is a way for your name to always be remembered. A will is a legal document used in estate planning and the only way assets titled in your name can be distributed as you wish. If you would like to name Our House Foundation (OHF) as one of your beneficiaries, your will is the place to do it. When you make a bequest to OHF, you’re making life better for individuals with developmental disabilities in our community.
Assets titled in joint, i.e. husband and wife, do not pass through a will, as well as any asset having a beneficiary destination (for example, life insurance, IRA’s, pensions). If you do not have a will, the state directs what happens, where your assets can possibly pass to distant family members or the state itself.
A will is a common way to leave a gift to a charity either as a fixed dollar amount, specific asset or as a percentage of your estate. Many donors prefer bequeathing a percentage of their estate, as inflation can erode the impact of a fixed amount over the years. The correct terminology would be: I give and bequeath the sum of $___ (or ___ percent of my estate) to Our House Foundation, Inc., a New Jersey nonprofit corporation (Federal Tax ID: 22-2856145).
Few financial tools are more powerful than appreciated property, specifically stocks and real estate. Both can magnify wealth faster than nearly any other financial method. Additionally, in many cases, a person who donates an appreciated asset to a charity instead of selling it can take a charitable deduction for the property’s full value while avoiding capital gains on the property.
Appreciated assets are usually transferred to OHF and then sold. These proceeds can be used to meet needs, such as providing programs and services to adults with developmental disabilities. In most cases, if you have held securities for more than one year you can deduct the market value of the securities and avoid paying any capital gains tax. If the shares are held in your broker’s office, transferring securities is easy. Simply contact us and we will provide your broker with all the needed information. If you have land, a second home or other real estate you wish to donate, they have similar benefits to appreciated securities. It is also possible to donate your home to OHF and retain lifetime use of the property. A trust may be created based upon the value of the home at the time of the donation.
Charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder trusts are methods of giving that organizations can use to benefit their programs. Charitable gift annuities provide a fixed income to you — and the charities you designate — for life, regardless of market conditions. Setting up an annuity with Our House Foundation as a beneficiary is a great way to help adults with developmental disabilities while ensuring you’ll receive income from your annuity, too.
You can help adults with developmental disabilities and at the same time receive income for the life of your beneficiary and yours. Annuities and trusts are wonderful strategies if you have appreciated assets (typically stocks or property) and you would like to increase your income.
The charity receives distributions from the trust during the trust term. When the trust terminates, the non-charitable beneficiaries, specified by the grantor, receives the remainder.
A trust is a legal entity. An attorney is needed to draft a trust agreement, and you will need to appoint a trustee who will oversee the fund’s investment and distribution of payments. To qualify as a charitable trust, the gift must be irrevocable. OHF can serve as the trustee for gifts of $100,000 and more. You are always able to select your own trustee for any size trust. Our House can provide a recommendation for a financial advisor and an estate planning attorney.
Many people prepare for the future by purchasing life insurance or putting money away for retirement. Over time, the reasons you purchased insurance or saved for retirement may change. If your circumstances have changed, and you no longer need the same amounts of life insurance or retirement funds, you could turn what you no longer need into a charitable gift to an organization like Our House Foundation.
Retirement plans, when passed to anyone except your spouse, can be fully taxable within five years of your death. To give a retirement account, name the Our House Foundation as a primary or secondary beneficiary. This doesn’t provide an upfront tax deduction because it is revocable. If you want to provide income from your retirement account for a spouse or another beneficiary, you can direct that the proceeds from the plan, fund a charitable gift. In this instance, the estate will be taxed but receives a credit for the contribution.
Life Insurance is often purchased to provide a financial safeguard for dependents and as they become adults, is no longer needed. One way to make a charitable gift of life insurance would be to name OHF as the beneficiary. Naming OHF as the beneficiary but reserving the right to change the beneficiary, the donor will not be entitled to an income tax charitable deduction. Since the beneficiary designation is revocable, there is no completed gift and no gift tax consequences. If making a gift and receiving a tax benefit is important to you, then transferring ownership to OHF is the way to go. In this instance, the charitable deductions for income tax purposes are the fair market value of the policy or the donor’s cost basis in the policy, whichever is less. The cost basis consists of all premiums paid by the donor up to the time the policy is gifted. Charitable gifts of life insurance can be much simpler and less expensive to implement than a charitable trust.
A bequest in your will is a way for your name to always be remembered. A will is a legal document used in estate planning and the only way assets titled in your name can be distributed as you wish. If you would like to name Our House Foundation (OHF) as one of your beneficiaries, your will is the place to do it. When you make a bequest to OHF, you’re making life better for individuals with developmental disabilities in our community.
Assets titled in joint i.e., husband and wife, do not pass through a will, as well as any asset having a beneficiary destination (for example, life insurance, IRA’s, pensions). If you do not have a will, the state directs what happens, where your assets can possibly pass to distant family members or the state itself.
A will is a common way to leave a gift to a charity either as a fixed dollar amount, specific asset, or as a percentage of your estate. Many donors prefer bequeathing a percentage of their estate, as inflation can erode the impact of a fixed amount over the years. The correct terminology would be: I give and bequeath the sum of $___ (or ___ percent of my estate) to Our House Foundation, Inc., a New Jersey nonprofit corporation (Federal Tax ID: 22-2856145).
Few financial tools are more powerful than appreciated property, specifically stocks and real estate. Both can magnify wealth faster than nearly any other financial method. Additionally, in many cases, a person who donates an appreciated asset to a charity instead of selling it can take a charitable deduction for the property’s full value while avoiding capital gains on the property.
Appreciated assets are usually transferred to OHF and then sold. These proceeds can be used to meet needs, such as providing programs and services to adults with developmental disabilities. In most cases, if you have held securities for more than one year you can deduct the market value of the securities and avoid paying any capital gains tax. If the shares are held in your broker’s office, transferring securities is easy. Simply contact us and we will provide your broker with all the needed information. If you have land, a second home or other real estate you wish to donate, they have similar benefits to appreciated securities. It is also possible to donate your home to OHF and retain lifetime use of the property. A trust may be created based upon the value of the home at the time of the donation.
Charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder trusts are methods of giving that organizations can use to benefit their programs. Charitable gift annuities provide a fixed income to you — and the charities you designate — for life, regardless of market conditions. Setting up an annuity with Our House Foundation as a beneficiary is a great way to help adults with developmental disabilities while ensuring you’ll receive income from your annuity, too.
You can help adults with developmental disabilities and at the same time receive income for the life of your beneficiary and yours. Annuities and trusts are wonderful strategies if you have appreciated assets (typically stocks or property) and you would like to increase your income.
The charity receives distributions from the trust during the trust term. When the trust terminates, the non-charitable beneficiaries, specified by the grantor, receives the remainder.
A trust is a legal entity. An attorney is needed to draft a trust agreement, and you will need to appoint a trustee who will oversee the fund’s investment and distribution of payments. To qualify as a charitable trust, the gift must be irrevocable. OHF can serve as the trustee for gifts of $100,000 and more. You are always able to select your own trustee for any size trust. Our House can provide a recommendation for a financial advisor and an estate planning attorney.
Many people prepare for the future by purchasing life insurance or putting money away for retirement. Over time, the reasons you purchased insurance or saved for retirement may change. If your circumstances have changed, and you no longer need the same amounts of life insurance or retirement funds, you could turn what you no longer need into a charitable gift to an organization like Our House Foundation.
Retirement plans, when passed to anyone except your spouse, can be fully taxable within five years of your death. To give a retirement account, name the Our House Foundation as a primary or secondary beneficiary. This doesn’t provide an upfront tax deduction because it is revocable. If you want to provide income from your retirement account for a spouse or another beneficiary, you can direct that the proceeds from the plan, fund a charitable gift. In this instance, the estate will be taxed but receives a credit for the contribution.
Life Insurance is often purchased to provide a financial safeguard for dependents and as they become adults, is no longer needed. One way to make a charitable gift of life insurance would be to name OHF as the beneficiary. Naming OHF as the beneficiary but reserving the right to change the beneficiary, the donor will not be entitled to an income tax charitable deduction. Since the beneficiary designation is revocable, there is no completed gift and no gift tax consequences. If making a gift and receiving a tax benefit is important to you, then transferring ownership to OHF is the way to go. In this instance, the charitable deductions for income tax purposes are the fair market value of the policy or the donor’s cost basis in the policy, whichever is less. The cost basis consists of all premiums paid by the donor up to the time the policy is gifted. Charitable gifts of life insurance can be much simpler and less expensive to implement than a charitable trust.
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