Ensuring a Bright Future for First Parish of Sudbury Through Legacy Giving
Your legacy gift in support of First Parish of Sudbury ensures that our congregation will be vibrant for generations to come. Legacy gifts are a wonderful way to provide for FPS while making sound financial plans for yourself and your family.
Legacy gifts, sometimes called “planned gifts,” can have a tremendous impact on First Parish’s long-term financial strength. Gifts of all sizes are important and because of tax rules, may cost you far less than you might have thought. Please consider these options, and let us know if you are considering a legacy gift or if you have already included FPS in your estate plans.
If you are considering making a legacy gift, please consult your own qualified financial advisor and/or attorney as you make your legacy plans.
How Will My Gift Be Spent?
All legacy gifts are deeply appreciated. FPS accepts both unrestricted and restricted gifts.
Unrestricted gifts to FPS give the congregation the greatest flexibility to meet needs that may arise in the future. Gifts are unrestricted unless you specifically designate a restricted purpose. Unrestricted gifts may go into our operating funds or our savings; they may be made available for meaningful special projects, for emergency use, or for large capital expenses. FPS prefers unrestricted gifts because they allow our future leaders to address needs we may not be able to foresee.
Restricted gifts are gifts for which you explicitly state the manner in which you want the money to be used. If your gift is narrowly restricted (for example to the purchase of a particular item), the FPS Board of Directors must decide whether it can accept the gift with the conditions attached. If you are considering restricting a gift, please discuss your idea with the FPS Board, so that we can work together to ensure that your wishes and the congregation’s potential future needs are aligned.
Suggested Bequest Language:
Please share this suggested bequest language with your attorney to assist in drafting a will or codicil.
Unrestricted Gift
I give to First Parish of Sudbury, located in Sudbury, MA, % of my estate [or the sum of $__] for its general purposes.
Restricted Gift
I give to First Parish of Sudbury, located in Sudbury, MA % of my estate [or the sum of $_____] to be used for [stated purpose]. If at any time in the judgment of First Parish of Sudbury’s Board of Trustees it is deemed impossible or impracticable to carry out the above purpose, said trustees shall determine a purpose as near as possible to that described above.
How You Can Support FSPS Through Legacy Giving
BEQUESTS: Your will allows you to take care of your family after you are gone; it can also allow you to take care of FPS for future generations. Through a bequest, you may leave a specific dollar amount, a percentage of your estate, or specific assets such as marketable securities. This is one of the simplest legacy gifts for estates of any size.
SECURITIES: (Such as stocks or bonds.) Gifts of securities can allow you to give more by allowing you to avoid paying capital gains taxes on appreciated securities. Since FPS is tax-exempt, we will be able to sell the securities and realize their full value.
RETIREMENT ASSETS: Often, a retirement plan or IRA is a pre-tax asset and, when transferred to a beneficiary, is subject to estate tax as well as income tax. Depending on tax brackets, it is sometimes true that as much as half of the retirement assets left in your account will go to taxes instead of to heirs. Therefore, naming FPS as the beneficiary of your qualified retirement plan or IRA can make your dollars go much farther for the things you care about. As a tax-exempt entity, FPS would receive the entire value of the plan, without diminution for taxes. Most often you simply need to name FPS as a beneficiary on a form supplied by your plan administrator.
FOR THOSE OVER AGE 73: After 73 years of age, you are required to take a certain amount of money out of your retirement fund yearly (a required minimum distribution or RMD), and you are taxed on that money. However, utilizing a Qualified Charitable Distribution, you may transfer funds in an IRA account directly to FPS. This transfer counts toward your RMD and is not taxed.
LIFE INSURANCE: As with retirement assets, naming FPS as the beneficiary of your life insurance policy is a wonderful way to give for the future life of the congregation.
Additional Options
There are other planned gifts that might suit your estate planning goals. These require more planning and are therefore generally for larger gifts.
GIFT ANNUITIES: The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) manages Charitable Gift Annuities on behalf of itself and other UU entities, including member congregations. A charitable gift annuity (CGA) is a contractual agreement between the UUA and you. In exchange for a donation of $10,000 or more, the Association promises to pay a fixed dollar amount to you (and your partner, if so designated) for as long as you live or for a set number of years. At the end of the contract, the UUA delivers what remains of the original gift to the UU entities you have designated.
CHARITABLE REMAINDER TRUST: This type of gift is very flexible in form and can be tailored to fit your situation. Some trusts are designed to handle assets that are not immediately marketable, such as real estate. Some pay a fixed income, and some pay a variable amount. You, or the living beneficiaries you have named, receive income during the term of the trust and receive the remainder. Depending on how the trust is set up, you could see immediate, significant tax benefits for yourself.
DONOR-ADVISED FUND (DAF): A DAF is a giving account established as a public charity that allows donors to make charitable contributions, receive an immediate tax deduction, and then recommend grants from the fund over time to their favorite charitable organizations when they choose to.
QUESTIONS?
Contact: 978-443-2043