St. Richard's Legacy Society

This page covers the following topics:

St. Richard's Legacy Society

• Endowment Fund
• St. Richard's Legacy Society Advisory Board

Gifts during your lifetime?

• Charitable Trusts
• Charitable Required Minimum Distribution from Retirement Accounts
• Appreciated assets such as securities

Gifts planned during your lifetime to fulfill at your death

• Bequests and Wills
• Retirement Plans
• Bank Accounts, Securities, and Certificates of Deposit
• Life Insurance Policies

What is the Legacy Society?

Planned giving is a thoughtful way to play an important part in the long term success and growth of St. Richard's Episcopal Church and to help assure that its missions will continue to grow for generations to come.

Other Seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold — Mark 4:8

In the spirit of Mark 4:8, St. Richard's Episcopal Church has established the St. Richard's Legacy Society to recognize and thank those who have acknowledged a commitment to the church’s future either with an endowment gift during their lifetime or through their estate planning.

While a donor may wish to remain anonymous, the St. Richard's Legacy Society provides an opportunity to celebrate those who have followed the example of Bishop Pierce and his exemplary devotion to the future of the church. These gifts will allow present generations to ensure the future of our ministries in a profound and meaningful way.

You may become a member of the St. Richard's Legacy Society by including St. Richard's Episcopal Church in your plans. A gift during your lifetime of appreciated assets such as securities, or property, could provide certain current tax benefits. Other lifetime gifts could provide compelling income for life to the donor as well as tax benefits. Gifts could also include bequests made through a will or a trust, or by naming the church as beneficiary of an insurance policy or a retirement account.

Your gift, regardless of size or type, would build a sustaining legacy for St. Richard's Episcopal Church.

Endowment Fund

Gifts made through the St. Richard's Legacy Society are invested in the Endowment Fund. The purpose of Endowment Fund is to enable the Parish to more completely fulfillil its mission by developing its ministries beyond what is possible through its annual operating funds. The Endowment Fund is managed by an independent Endowment Board that is appointed by the Vestry.

St. Richard's Legacy Society Advisory Board

We're committed to making sure your gift reaches your intended purpose. After you contact the St. Richard's Legacy Society, a member of our Advisory Board will contact you to guide you through the process endowing your gift and recording your intention.

Gifts During Your Lifetime

Charitable Trusts

• A charitable trust is a way to achieve your current and long-term financial, estate and philanthropic goals. A donor makes an irrevocable transfer of cash, stock, real estate or other assets to a trust which produces income for the donor or other beneficiary, for a fixed period of time of up to twenty years or until the donor or other beneficiary dies. At the conclusion of the trust period, the remaining principal assets will be distributed to St. Richard’s.

• Charitable trusts take two forms — charitable remainder trusts and charitable lead trusts.

• A charitable remainder trust allows you to designate the beneficiary of regular payouts from trust proceeds (for either a fixed dollar amount or a fixed percentage) during your lifetime or for a period of time, not to exceed twenty years. At the same time, Richard’s is designated a remainder beneficiary. This allows you to claim a tax deduction for the estimated portion of the assets that will ultimately go to Richard’s upon death or the expiration of the fixed period.

• Charitable lead trusts appeal to individuals who wish to make a gift but retain the property. These irrevocable trusts are, essentially, the reverse of charitable remainder trusts in that the payments from a charitable lead trust will first go to Richard’s for a specific period of time, usually between 10 and 20 years, after which time the principal of the trust will revert to you or to those you have designated.

Charitable Required Minimum Distribution

Eligible IRA Owners who are required to make an annual Required Minimum Distribution can make a qualified charitable distribution directly to Richard’s without having to pay federal income taxes on the distribution.

Gifts of Appreciated Securities and Assets

Donors could receive current tax deductions for appreciated value of the gift.

Gifts Planned During Your Lifetime to Fulfill at Your Death

Bequests and Wills

The simplest way to make a planned gift is by naming Richard’s Episcopal Church in your will. A bequest is a meaningful way to support our work without affecting your cash flow during your lifetime. Your attorney can include it when you prepare or revise your will or you can add a codicil at any time.

There are several types of bequests:

• A specific bequest indicates the amount of cash, securities or other asset you wish to leave to Richard’s. Or it can indicate a specific percentage of the total value of your estate.

• A residuary bequest leaves the remaining portion of your estate (or a percentage of the total) after all other bequests have been satisfied.

• You can make Richard’s the recipient of a contingency bequest, which takes into account the possibility of a change in your beneficiary’s circumstances.

Examples of Specific Bequests

You can make a bequest to Richard’s for a specific dollar amount or percentage of your estate:

I give, devise and bequeath to Richard’s Episcopal Church the sum of $________.

Or, you can make a bequest for specific assets, such as securities, real estate or personal property. Please be as specific as possible in identifying the property:

I give, devise and bequeath to Richard’s Episcopal Church my [insert description of the asset].

Example of Residuary Bequests

You can make a residuary bequest, which gives all or a portion of the residue of your estate to Richard’s after payment of expenses and any amounts designated to other beneficiaries.

I give, devise, and bequeath to Richard’s Episcopal Church ___ percent of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate as an unrestricted gift, to be used at its sole discretion.

Examples of Contingency Bequests

You can make a contingency bequest to Richard’s, which allows you to account for a change in your beneficiary’s circumstances.

I give, devise, and bequeath [insert name] ____ percent of the rest, residue, and remainder of my estate if s/he survives me. If [insert name] does not survive me, I give, devise and bequeath to Richard’s Episcopal Church, ____ percent of the rest, residue, and remainder of my estate as an unrestricted gift, to be used at its sole discretion.

Retirement Plans

You can contribute to Richard’s Episcopal Church utilizing your retirement plan. Certain retirement plans, including IRAs, Keoghs, 401k and 403b plans, allow you to defer paying taxes until you withdraw income during retirement. However, after your death these accounts are often exposed to significant taxes.

Therefore, you might find it beneficial to leave all or part of these funds to Richard’s while leaving other assets to your heirs. Simply name Richard’s Episcopal Church a beneficiary of your retirement plan. You will retain control of the plan during your lifetime, and you can change your beneficiary at any time if your circumstances change.

Bank Accounts, Investment Accounts, and Certificates of Deposit

A no-cost way to make a planned gift to Richard’s is by designating it the recipient of a bank account or security. You can instruct any financial institution in which you have an account to place your asset in a trust (often called a Pay on Death or a Transfer upon Death Account) which will be transferred, upon your death, directly to Richard’s Episcopal Church.

This allows you to retain complete control of the asset during your lifetime and to give the remaining asset to Richard’s upon your death. Most Pay on Death or a Transfer upon Death Accounts can be created easily, using a form obtained from your bank or financial institution, and could allow assets to avoid probate.

Life Insurance Policies

Richard’s welcomes philanthropic support through gifts of life insurance policies when the policies are paid in full and Richard’s is named as the owner and irrevocable beneficiary of the policy.

You can name Richard’s as the primary or contingent beneficiary of an existing or new life insurance policy. Although a current income tax deduction is not available, it will result in a federal estate tax deduction for the full amount of the proceeds payable to the charity, regardless of policy size. Or you can make an assignment or gift of a life insurance policy that you currently own or donate a new life insurance policy, approaches which allow a current income tax deduction.