All Saints Episcopal Church

Bequests

Bequests are the easiest type of planned gift to arrange. Bequests enable your estate to realize a tax savings benefit and ensure that your assets are distributed the way you want.

A bequest is easy to arrange:

It is not payable until death, so it does not affect your assets or cash flow during your lifetime.
It is private – your will is not filed or made public until your death.
It is revocable – you can change the provisions in your will or trust at any time until your death.

Specific Bequest

Your Bequest can deliver a specific dollar amount or asset: “I give to All Saints all of my EE Savings Bonds I own at the time of my death”

Residual Bequest

You can give a percentage of the balance remaining in your estate after expenses, taxes and the specific bequests have been paid: “of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate I give (10%) percent to All Saints”

Contingent Bequest

Your bequest can be payable to a charity if the initial beneficiary is unable to inherit: “If my nephew does not survive me or disclaims this bequest, I direct it be paid to All Saints”

Tax Efficient Bequests

Certain assets are not only includible in the estate of a descendent for estate tax purposes; they are also partially or entirely taxable for income tax purposes when received by heirs. The two most common such assets are Retirement Accounts, including IRAs, and U.S. Savings Bonds.

Retirement Accounts/IRAs

A retirement account or IRA is included in your estate for estate tax purposes and your heirs will pay income tax on the amount that is distributed to them each year from the account. Even though generally they may be able to spread out the distributions over many years, income tax will still be paid on the distributions.


If you are including a bequest in your estate plan and your assets include an IRA, your heirs will pay less in taxes if you use the IRA for the charitable bequest. For example, assume that you have $100,000 in cash and CDs and $100,000 in an IRA account and you want to include a $50,000 charitable bequest from your estate. If you use the cash for the bequest, your heirs will receive $50,000 in cash and the $100,000 IRA. They will pay income tax on the $100,000 in the IRA when they receive distributions. If you use the IRA for the bequest, the heirs will receive the $100,000 in cash and CDs and a $50,000 IRA. They will pay income tax on the $50,000 IRA when they receive distributions so they have saved taxes on the other $50,000.

In order to make a bequest of a retirement account or IRA, generally you should change the beneficiary designation on the account. Normally, the retirement account or IRA will not pass through your will or trust. You can designate a dollar amount or percentage of the account or you can separate your IRAs into multiple IRAs with different beneficiaries.

U.S. Savings Bonds

The accumulated interest on U.S. Savings Bonds will be taxed to whoever cashes the Bonds including your heirs. These bonds are not attractive sources of charitable gifts while the owner is alive because any attempt to transfer ownership of the bonds will usually trigger the untaxed income. However, these bonds become very attractive sources for charitable bequests. We will devote a follow up article to U.S. Savings Bonds.

How All Saints Can Use Your Bequest

You have supported All Saints during your lifetime. You believe in our mission and understand that we will continue to make a positive difference in the world far into the future by: Sharing God’s Word, Showing Christ’s Love, and Serving All People.

You can direct your bequest to the General Endowment Fund so that the income from your bequest can be used to grow our mission. Alternatively, you can specify one of the other Endowment Funds such as: Elderly Ministry, Music, Education, Clergy Support, Parish Aid or Rector’s Discretionary.

Finally, you can start a new fund that meets our mission.

If you would like to discuss a bequest to All Saints, you may contact any member of the Planned Giving Team. You should always consult with your own advisor when changing your will or revocable trust.  

Planned Giving Team

Jeff PirruccelloPatty Bradford

Millennium Development Goals

The MDGs represent a global partnership that has grown from the commitments and targets established at the world summits of the 1990s. Responding to the world's main development challenges and to the calls of civil society, the MDGs promote poverty reduction, education, maternal health, gender equality, and aim at combating child mortality, AIDS and other diseases.