Include CFAAC in Your Will
Strategic Giving
Amplify Your Impact with CFAAC Bequests
At CFAAC, we offer strategic giving options that enhance your impact while providing potential tax benefits. By including CFAAC in your estate plan or exploring options like donor-advised funds and charitable gift annuities, you can support causes that matter to you while gaining financial advantages. These gifts can reduce your taxable estate, maximize your inheritance for heirs, and create a lasting legacy.
Include CFAAC in Your Will
One of the most meaningful ways to support the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County is by leaving a bequest in your will, living trust, or through a codicil. This type of gift allows you to make a lasting impact on the causes that matter to you, while still maintaining control over your assets during your lifetime. A bequest offers the unique benefit of allowing you to continue to use or enjoy the property you plan to leave to charity, ensuring that it remains part of your life for as long as you wish.
CFAAC can help you direct your support to the specific nonprofits or causes you care about, ensuring your gift helps create lasting change. Whether you wish to fund a particular organization or support a cause within the community, a bequest allows you to leave a legacy that makes a difference for generations to come.
Types of Bequests
A specific bequest is a gift of a particular item or sum of money that you designate in your will or trust. This can include a specific amount of cash, a piece of property, or a particular asset like stocks or bonds. The clarity of a specific bequest ensures that the asset you intend to give is directly transferred to the designated recipient, such as the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County (CFAAC).
A percentage bequest allows you to leave a percentage of your estate, rather than a fixed amount. This type of bequest provides flexibility, ensuring that your gift adjusts in value according to changes in your estate’s size. For example, you might choose to leave 10% of your estate to CFAAC, which ensures that your gift remains proportional, regardless of the total value of your estate at the time of your passing.
A residual bequest is the portion of your estate that remains after specific gifts and expenses have been paid. This type of bequest allows you to designate CFAAC as the recipient of the remaining assets, after your loved ones or other beneficiaries have received their share. This ensures that CFAAC receives the remainder of your estate, making it a meaningful and flexible way to leave a lasting impact.
A contingent bequest takes effect only if certain conditions are met. This could be a gift to CFAAC if other specified individuals or organizations are unable to inherit from your estate. For example, you might designate that if a primary beneficiary predeceases you, the funds or assets intended for that individual would be redirected to CFAAC. This type of bequest ensures that your wishes are fulfilled, even if unforeseen circumstances arise.
The Flexibility and Benefits of Bequests
A bequest is generally a revocable gift, which means you may change or modify it 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.
Bequest Language
In order to make a bequest, you should speak with your attorney or estate planner. They can help you include a bequest in your estate plan. We have provided some basic bequest language to assist you.