|
Following are typical ways of stating these wishes, with their
common legal terms. Note: any of the following bequests could
go to individuals (such as family members) or to organizations,
such as New Life Evangelistic Center, that you would like to
support.
These are perhaps the four most common
types of bequests you can write into your will. The recipients
of any of these can be either individuals or organizations.
a.
General bequest. This is usually a gift of a
specific amount of money. “I give $12,000 to my co-worker John
Jones.” Note: if you bequest a monetary sum to someone and
there is not enough cash in your estate to cover this (say,
there is only $10,000 cash to spare), assets from your estate
must be sold to make up for the remaining $2,000.
b.
Specific bequest. “I give my 2001 Volkswagen Jetta
to my granddaughter, Alice.” Unlike the general bequest, if you
no longer own this particular car at the time of your death, the
gift is considered null. Alice is not entitled to, say, the car
you bought afterward, or to the blue-book value of your old
Jetta. Simply this: if, and only if, you still have the
car, Alice gets it.
c.
Contingent bequest. Sometimes you will want to
make a bequest with certain “strings attached.” For instance,
“I give my 2001 Volkswagen Jetta to my granddaughter, Alice, as
long as she doesn’t get any more speeding tickets between now
and [such and such a date].” You might also want to make such a
contingent bequest to ensure a secondary recipient in the
instance that the primary recipient predeceases you. “If my
husband does not survive me, I give my piano to my daughter.”
d.
Residuary bequest. After you have made all
desired bequests as listed above (that is, general, specific,
and/or contingent bequests) – and after you have paid off all
remaining debts and taxes – you can distribute whatever funds
and assets remain by making a series of residuary (that
is, “left over”) bequests. In plain English, you write that you
will give a certain percentage of your remaining estate
to such-and-such a person or organization. The common language
used is this: “I leave [X] percent of all the rest, residue, and
remainder of my estate to [New Life Evangelistic Center, or my
brother Larry].”
While the four types of bequests above can
be directed toward either individuals or charitable
organizations like New Life Evangelistic Center, the following
options should be considered solely when giving to the latter.
e.
Restricted or Unrestricted Bequest. Your bequest
to a charity like New Life Evangelistic Center can be either
restricted or unrestricted.
i.
A restricted bequest means that you want
your gift to be used only by a particular department of an
organization, or only in a certain way. For instance, you could
say, “I give, devise, and bequeath one thousand dollars to New
Life Evangelistic Center for support of the Veterans Come Home
program.”
ii.
An unrestricted bequest has the added
benefit of allowing the charitable organization in question to
use your gift for whatever needs are most pressing at the time.
While restricted bequests can certainly do a great deal of good,
it is always advisable to check with the organization first to
make sure it is possible to use your gift according to your
wishes.
f.
Honorary Bequest. You can make your bequest out
in honor of yourself or someone else. For instance, “I, David
Aupperlee, of Columbia, Missouri, give, devise and bequeath to
New Life Evangelistic Center one thousand dollars in honor of my
late sister, Gladys Aupperlee, who always watched and loved
Channel 24.” New Life Evangelistic Center is always glad to
honor such requests, and has many ways of recognizing these
gifts in the honor or memory of whomever you choose.
|
HOME
