Types of Planned Gifts

A bequest is a charitable provision in your will or living trust. It is a popular way to make a gift to the Garden of any amount, free of estate tax. Your gift can be made as a percentage of your estate, or you can give specific amount of cash, securities or property.

A residuary bequest gives the “rest, residue and remainder” of your estate—or a percentage of that remainder—to the Garden after all other bequests, debts and taxes have been reconciled.

If you already have a will, a bequest to the Garden can easily be accommodated by adding a codicil.

Click here for the Garden’s specific bequest language

A charitable gift annuity is a way to support the Garden’s mission while receiving steady payments during your retirement years. You make a donation of cash, stocks or other assets to the Garden. In return, you—and another beneficiary if you choose—receive a fixed sum each year for the rest of your lifetime.

A gift annuity is particularly attractive because the rates are based on your age. In many brackets, they produce higher income than yields from investments in the stock and bond markets. Your initial gift is also partially tax deductible and may reduce your estate tax.

A charitable remainder trust allows you and/or other beneficiaries to receive income each year for your lifetime or a set period of up to 20 years. Payments can be either variable or a fixed amount, depending on whether you choose an annuity trust or a unitrust. Annuity trusts pay a fixed amount each year. Unitrusts pay a fixed percentage of the value of the trust assets, which are figured annually.

Upon the termination of the trust, the balance goes to the Garden. With a charitable remainder trust, your initial gift is partially tax deductible and may reduce your estate tax. A gift made with low-yielding assets may also increase your current income.

You can designate the Garden as a beneficiary on existing life-insurance policies or retirement assets such as an IRA, 401(k) or 403(b) by simply completing the appropriate form provided by your plan administrator or insurance carrier.

Retirement plan assets are subject to income taxes when left in your estate, reducing the amount passed to heirs by up to 39 percent. The Garden, as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is tax exempt and could therefore receive the full amount of the asset.