While one can make a legacy gift through a Will or Trust, you don’t have to have a Will or Trust to make a legacy gift. The easiest way to leave a legacy gift to your parish is through a payable on death or beneficiary designation – usually on a type of financial account.
Bank Accounts
Most bank savings and checking account allow a “payable on death” or “transfer on death” designation for the account. This is much like naming a beneficiary of the account.
On your death, ownership of your account will automatically be transferred to whomever you designate.
It can be your children, family members and/or your parish. You can designate multiple people, and if you include your parish, it would be treated like any other family member named and would receive an equal share.
This doesn’t cost you anything to do. You simply fill out a form at your bank or financial institution.
Beneficiary designations on IRA, 401k, 403B, investment accounts, or insurance policies
Similar to “payable on death” or “transfer on death” noted above for bank accounts, you can designate beneficiaries (even multiple beneficiaries) for your retirement accounts and insurance policies.
Like the bank accounts above, you can include your parish along with your family members.
Again, this often can be done with no expense by simply submitting a form.
As you can see - making a legacy gift without a Will or Trust is simple to do, and will cost you little to nothing to set up.
Of course, you can leave a legacy gift with one of these payable on death or beneficiary designations even if you have a Will or Trust. If you have a Will or Trust, you will want to make sure you consider these payable on death or beneficiary designations as part of your overall estate plan.
For additional information on how to set up a legacy gift to your parish without a Will or Trust, please contact our Parish Life Administrator below.
Parish Life Administrator
Travis Pearson