CREATE A LEGACY WITH THE BRIGADE

Your gift to VHC Medical Brigade will ensure healthcare for Hondurans for generations to come, allowing you to transform lives while costing you nothing during your lifetime. Legacy giving uses a variety of assets such as stocks, bonds, property (real estate and personal property), wills, and insurance policies. Legacy gifts also provide you with charitable deductions and favorable tax benefits. The information provided in this policy is not intended as legal or tax advice. For such advice, please consult your attorney or tax advisor.

What is a Legacy Gift?

Legacy gifts are significant charitable gifts made during a donor’s lifetime or at a later date as a part of financial or estate plans. Perhaps the greatest benefit of legacy gifts is that you can make incredible donations that don’t cost you anything during your life.  Legacy gifts:

  • Are easy to arrange. A simple paragraph added to your will or a designation on a life insurance policy is all it takes to designate funds to VHC Medical Brigade. 

  • Can be changed or revoked as needed. It’s easy to make any changes you’d like and you are free to change your mind at any time. 

  • Allow you to be far more generous than
    you ever thought possible. 

  • Preserve your savings and cash flow during your lifetime. 

Bequests by Will

A charitable bequest is a distribution from your estate to a charitable organization by simply adding it to your will. The federal estate tax charitable deductions are uncapped and all estate assets given to charity are fully deductible. 

• Specific bequests: determine a specific dollar amount or asset that you would like to leave to the Brigade. 

• Residual bequests: after you have provided for your loved ones, name VHC Medical Brigade to receive a percentage or all of your residuary estate.

• Contingent bequest: name the Brigade as a beneficiary in the event of the death of other beneficiaries, such as family members or friends.

Your attorney may request the following information when drafting your will: 

Life Insurance Gifts

Gift of an existing life insurance policy:

You may be at a point in your life where you no longer require the security and protection of an existing life insurance policy. If you permanently name the Brigade the beneficiary of your life insurance policy, and experience significant tax benefits the year you make the gift. 

Gift of a new life insurance policy: You can also receive a charitable deduction for the unexpired premium in the year of a gift if you purchase a new insurance policy and name the Brigade as the owner and irrevocable beneficiary. You can deduct all future premiums as a charitable gift as well. 

Gift of a portion of a life insurance policy: Another option is to name the Brigade as the beneficiary for part of the proceeds of a policy that you continue to own and control. You also have the option to name the Brigade as the beneficiary for part of the proceeds of your insurance policy and still remain the outright owner. This reduces federal estate taxes significantly. . 

Retirement Plan Gifts

It's common for people to keep a significant percentage of their wealth in their retirement plan account, such as 401(k) plans, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), or 403(b)s. Although these accounts grow tax-free over time, they have significant built in tax liability. This means that a percentage of assets in your retirement plan will be signigicantly taxed if left to someone other than a spouse. Therefore, designating these assets for charitable giving can be a great advantage for tax purposes. 

Bank and Investment Accounts and Commercial Annuities

You may leave a legacy by naming the Brigade as a Transfer-on-Death or Payable-on-Death beneficiary on a bank or investment account or on a commercial annuity, where permitted by state law and financial institution.

Charitable Remainder Trust 

A charitable remainder trust can be set up during life or upon death and will serve as a significant gift towards the future of the Brigades work. The gift to the trust is irrevocable and is tax deductible in part. Similar to a charitable gift annuity, these trusts are created to pay an income stream to the donor (or if the gift is made upon death, then to the donor’s descendants) for their lifetime or during any period they wish. 

Charitable Lead Trust

A charitable lead trust is the reverse of the charitable remainder trust. The trust can support the Brigade with payments made from the trust assets during the donor’s lifetime. Upon the donor’s death, the remaining trust funds pass to the donor’s designated beneficiaries. A charitable lead trust allows the donor to enjoy the satisfaction of supporting the Brigades work during their life while still being able to provide for loved ones after passing.

The information on this website is not intended as legal or tax advice. For such advice, please consult an attorney or tax advisor.