What will your legacy make possible for this region? A will is one piece of the answer, but rarely the whole story. National Estate Planning Awareness Week runs October 19 through 25, and it's a good moment to look past the single document and ask whether your whole plan reflects the future you want to help build here on the Gulf Coast.
A thoughtful estate plan usually involves more than one document, and when charitable giving matters to you, making sure all the pieces work together matters just as much.
Assets pass at death in different ways. Some are distributed under a will or a revocable trust. Others, including IRAs, retirement plan accounts, life insurance policies, and certain financial accounts, pass according to beneficiary designations or transfer-on-death designations.
Creating the legacy you envision means thinking about who and what you want to support, and how each asset will get there.
Here are a few approaches to consider with your estate planning advisors:
Name a fund at Gulf Coast as beneficiary of an IRA or other retirement account. You can generally designate a charitable beneficiary to receive all or a percentage of your IRA or retirement account while leaving other assets to family or other beneficiaries.
Leave a specific dollar amount through your will or trust. Whether it's $25,000, $100,000, or another figure, Gulf Coast can provide the language for your attorney to build into your estate planning documents.
Leave a percentage of your estate through your will or trust. Rather than a fixed amount, you might direct a percentage of your estate to a charitable fund, letting the gift adjust along with your estate's value over time.
Create a fund to support the organizations or causes you care about most. Your estate gift could establish or add to a designated fund benefiting a specific organization, or a field-of-interest fund focused on an issue that has mattered to you.
Leave a gift to meet the community's changing needs. An unrestricted gift to Gulf Coast's Area of Greatest Need Fund puts your charitable dollars to work wherever the region needs them most, now and as those needs shift over time.
National Estate Planning Awareness Week is a chance to look at your full estate plan and ask whether your documents and beneficiary designations reflect the people, organizations, and community you want to support.
Start Planning with Your Philanthropy Team
Our Philanthropy Team would be glad to help you think through how charitable giving becomes part of your legacy. We can work alongside your attorney, CPA, and financial advisor to explore your options and find the fund structure that best carries out your intentions for years, and perhaps generations, to come.
