The LGBT Bar Association of New York (LGBT Bar NY) is extremely grateful to our friends who have made their legacy a future in which equality for LGBTQ+ people is a reality. Our staff can help you craft a gift that can yield significant support to LGBT Bar NY as well as tax benefits, financial security-and the knowledge that your commitment to LGBTQ+ equality will continue far into the future.
Including LGBT Bar NY in Your Will
You can use your will to make a charitable bequest to LGBT Bar NY. Including LGBT Bar NY in your will (making a bequest) allows you to make a meaningful impact on the fight for equality without having to give up crucial assets needed during your lifetime.
A charitable bequest to LGBT Bar NY made in your will can take many forms. You can designate exactly how you want the funds to be used or you can make an unrestricted request, which allows LGBT Bar NY to use the contribution wherever it is most needed. Options for this include:
- You can designate a percentage of your estate.
- You can designate a specific sum of money.
- You can name LGBT Bar NY as a beneficiary of your stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other securities.
- You can leave the remainder of your estate after other beneficiaries receive the portions you designate.
- You can make LGBT Bar NY the contingent beneficiary of your estate if your spouse/ partner or other beneficiaries pass away before you.
- You can also create a charitable trust in your will to benefit LGBT Bar NY.
For bequests conveyed to LGBT Bar NY through a will, you receive no tax benefits during your lifetime, but when you die the value of the bequest may be deducted from your taxable estate, relieving your loved ones of possible added estate tax burdens. Our full name and Tax ID number, respectively, are Lesbian and Gay Law Association Foundation of Greater New York, 13-3828712.
Simply include in your will:
"I hereby give and bequeath [cash amount, percentage amount you are giving] to Lesbian and Gay Law Association Foundation of Greater New York for its general purposes."
Retirement Assets
To make a gift of retirement assets, such as a 401(k), 403(6), IRA, or pension fund, you can simply name the foundation as the beneficiary or contingent beneficiary of all or part of your retirement account, at least for those in plans that allow you to name beneficiaries.
Depending on the type and amount of retirement assets you own, the estate taxes could cut those assets nearly in half and income taxes on the proceeds to your beneficiary could then cut the leftover amount even more! But retirement assets left to a nonprofit organization are not taxed at all. Please note that this general information is not intended to be legal or tax advice. Prospective donors should consult a tax practitioner or financial advisor for specifics about their particular situation.
Charitable Trusts
Charitable remainder trusts are created by transferring assets into a trust, which provides income to your spouse/partner, children, a friend or even to yourself over a period of time. After a period of time passes, the principal transfers to the foundation. A charitable lead trust functions like a mirror image of a charitable remainder trust. You create a charitable lead trust by transferring assets into the trust.
The trust then pays the foundation an annual income for a fixed number of years, after which the principal held in the trust reverts to either you, your spouse/partner, children or any other beneficiaries you name. When you create a lifetime charitable trust, you will receive an immediate tax deduction based on the foundation's remainder interest in the trust and avoid estate taxes. If you create a lifetime charitable trust with an appreciated asset, you also defer capital gains taxes.
Life Insurance
There are a number of ways to make a gift of life insurance to the foundation. You can name the foundation as the beneficiary of all or a portion of the proceeds of your policy, or you can transfer ownership of the policy to the foundation outright. You can also name the foundation as the contingent beneficiary of your policy.
- When you donate your life insurance policy to the foundation, you can claim an immediate income tax deduction for the current value of the policy and your future premium payments are also deductible.
- If your beneficiary is also an heir to your estate, estate taxes could reduce the proceeds they receive by as much as half. If you own a substantial life insurance policy and want the proceeds to pass to your beneficiaries tax-free, then you may need an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT). An ILIT is a trust that owns life insurance policies and thus removes the insurance proceeds from your taxable estate, as long as certain conditions are met.