“ It's better to give than to receive.”

Giving from the Grave:
How Bequests Work

By the use of a will or an estate strategy, various types of assets such as cash, stocks, jewelry, land, etc., can be given to family members, friends, institutions or charities in the form of what is known as a “bequest”. In many cases this is done to avoid various taxes that can affect a will in almost every country around the world. By this very action many charities and institutions benefit in receiving help they would otherwise not get.

There are 2 types of charitable bequest gifts — the legacy where the bequest (usually land or money) is left to a specific charity, or an endowment if the bequest is given for a specific purpose. The endowment is a “gift that keeps on giving” in that a fund is set up with annual proceeds (usually a set amount) going to a specific charity.

In most cases when a person wants to bequest a gift it is done while the person is alive and done legally with either an estate planner or a legal expert (such as a lawyer). In making a charitable bequest, the testator must include in the will what charity the gift is for. More information is available at endowdevelop.com for charitable bequests in the US. For Canada: legalwills.ca. For the UK: moneyadviceservice.org.uk.

Here are a few other websites that can help you with any bequest decisions:
• moodylegacy.org
• jerusalemfoundation.org
• worldvision.org
• caritas.org

For those who love animals in the US: humanesociety.org.