Options for Your Clients

More on Gifts of Bequest

A charitable gift from your estate is a favored method of giving that enables you to achieve your financial goals and benefit the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation. No other planned gift is as simple to make or as easy to change should you ever need the assets during your lifetime.

A bequest may be right for you if:

You want to make a gift to the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation.
You want the flexibility to change your mind.
You want continued access to your wealth, should you need it.
You are concerned about outliving your resources.

Remembering the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation in your will is a wonderful way for you to make a lasting gift. Large or small, your bequest will make an important contribution to our long-term strength and our ability to benefit Washtenaw County.

But what if you don't have a will or living trust? You are not alone. Most Americans don’t have a will.

Without a will, the laws of your state will decide how your estate is divided. Typically, the probate court will divide your estate among your closest surviving family members according to a formula, and none of your estate can go to the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation or any other charity. If you wish to have a say in how your estate is distributed, you must have a will or living trust. We encourage you to work with an experienced attorney to create a will or living trust that accomplishes your goals for your estate.

How Your Gift Helps

AAACF’s deep roots within the local community enable us to have a deep understanding of local needs. By giving through us, you benefit from…

Personalized help and assistance in order to fulfill your charitable goals;

Professional investment management that ensures the charitable fund will continue;

Magnifying your impact with your gifts being combined with those of other donors.

Ways you can define a charitable gift in your estate plan

There are several ways that you can define the amount of your charitable gift to the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation. They are:

An unrestricted endowment bequest – This is a gift that supports our impact in Washtenaw County. This can be the most useful kind of gift because it allows us the flexibility to use your gift to address the most pressing needs in our community over time.
A restricted endowment bequest – This is a gift for a specific use, such as a specific fund, nonprofit, cause, or area of interest. It is best for you to consult with us before placing restrictions on your bequest to be sure we can carry out your wishes.

Ways to specify how we may use your bequest

You have several options for telling the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation how we may use your bequest once we receive it. They are:

An unrestricted endowment bequest – This is a gift that supports our impact in Washtenaw County. This can be the most useful kind of gift because it allows us the flexibility to use your gift to address the most pressing needs in our community over time.
A restricted endowment bequest – This is a gift for a specific use, such as a specific fund, nonprofit, cause, or area of interest. It is best for you to consult with us before placing restrictions on your bequest to be sure we can carry out your wishes.

Make sure we can carry out your wishes

It is very important that your bequest be accurately and clearly described in your estate plan so that we can carry out your wishes as you intended. We are pleased to consult with you regarding the terms of your bequest to make sure that we will be able to carry out your intentions. In order to avoid any possible question that your bequest is to our organization, be sure to include our full legal name and our federal tax identification number in your bequest.

Legal name: the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation

Current address: 301 N. Main Street, Suite 300, Ann Arbor, MI 48104

Tax identification number: 38-6087967

We are happy to provide you with sample bequest language to assist you and your attorney.
You have complete flexibility to change your bequest at any time. If circumstances change in a way that makes you want to revise your gift to us, you can.

Tax benefits

Because your bequest is revocable, you do not receive an income tax charitable deduction when you create it. Rather, your estate will receive an estate tax deduction for the full value of your bequest in the year it is made. Depending on a variety of factors, including the size of your estate and estate tax law at the time your estate is settled, this deduction may or may not save estate taxes.

Bequest alternatives

In addition to adding bequest language to your will, here are a few other simple ways for you to make a bequest to us:

Make the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation a designated beneficiary of a life insurance policy.
Make the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation a designated beneficiary of an IRA or other retirement plan.
Make the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation a designated beneficiary of savings bonds.
Instruct your bank to "pay on death" to the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation some or all of a specific bank account.
Instruct your brokerage firm to "transfer on death" to the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation some or all of a specific brokerage or other financial account.

Please let us know if you have included the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation in your estate plans. We would welcome the opportunity to thank you for your thoughtful gift, to confirm that we can carry out your wishes, and to honor your contributions through the Helmut Stern Society for Community Legacy.

Example of bequest giving

Dana Mendez, a widow, has been a supporter of the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation for many years. Dana is in good health now, but does not want to be a financial burden to her children should she require expensive health care in the future.

the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation is one of two charities to which she has been most dedicated. She would like to make a lasting gift to each of them in memory of her husband. After discussing her options with her estate planning advisor, she decides to create a residuary bequest in her will for each of her two favorite charities. Each charity will receive 50% of the remainder of her estate after all other obligations, such as taxes and bequests to her children and grandchildren, have been taken care of.

Benefits

Dana’s assets will remain available to her should she need them.
The revocable nature of her gift will minimize the possibility that she will ever need financial help from her children.
If her estate is worth what she expects when it is settled, she will be able to provide generous legacy gifts to the two charities that have meant the most to her and her late husband.