Planned Giving

Thank you for your interest in Floresta. If you are setting up a retirement plan or writing a will, there are many details to consider as you plan for your family’s future. This is a time to explore the benefits of gift planning. We offer a variety of ways to help you make wise decisions and dependable investments, while making an eternal difference in the lives of the rural poor.

Benefits of Giving

Many of the benefits below have allowed individuals and families the ability to enjoy increased income and general savings.

Gift Annuity

Invest in the lives we transform. This investment plan offers reliable fixed income from a sound venture: rural community development.

Wills and Bequests

Make a difference in lives by leaving a legacy. By including Floresta in your will, you can transform lives even after you’re gone.

Wills

Each person’s will is a testimony of values held. It speaks of love and thoughtfulness as well as of careful provision.

If there is no will, the state must fill the void with a formula that may not provide as you wish for loved ones, and may also convey far less than the caring message a will can speak. Careful planning, including thoughtful preparation of a will that fully expresses your wishes, can provide for the people and the causes to which your life is devoted.

Don’t leave matters to chance and fail to draw a will. If you do, a greater than necessary amount of your assets may go to state and federal governments in taxes, and your remaining assets may go to individuals other than those loved ones whom you would prefer to benefit. The guardianship of minor children is also left for the laws of the state to determine.

Most of us have worked long and hard to provide well for our loved ones. It seems a shame, therefore, to neglect the ultimate means of sharing our concern — the making of an appropriate will.

Necessity
Good planning requires that a will be part of a total estate plan. Rising property values, growth of many investments, and the very considerable life insurance held by so many, as well as recently enacted tax laws, require that planning look far into the future.

For example, even though a surviving spouse may now receive all of an estate — whatever its size — free of estate tax, the second estate (when the property passes from the surviving spouse to the children) will likely be taxed significantly on all amounts exceeding the exemption available under the unified federal estate and gift tax credit. A carefully drafted will can often reduce the tax impact on the second estate.

Before drafting your will, it is important to evaluate your financial worth and to make a checklist of those persons and organizations that you wish to receive your assets. Seek qualified assistance in the planning.

Bear in mind that the person or financial institution who aids in drafting your will is likely to be the one to whom your spouse and children will look for guidance. You should make the decisions. The professionals will put your wishes into the correct legal form.

Specific Bequests
A specific bequest directs a specific percentage or amount of money or a specific asset to Floresta.  In many cases it is advisable to direct a percentage or a percentage with either a maximum or minimum amount.

Example:   I give, devise, and bequeath X% of my estate, $X, or X asset to Floresta (Federal Tax ID# ), a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization located at . San Diego, CA 92117, for its general use and purposes.

Residuary Bequests
The residuum of an estate is the part left after all expenses have been paid and other specific and percentage bequests have been distributed.  A residuary bequest gives the residuum of an estate to Floresta. 

Example:  I give, devise, and bequeath X% or the rest, residue, and remainder of my estate consisting of property, both real and personal, wherever situated, which I may own or be entitled to at my death, to Floresta (Federal Tax ID # ), a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization located at San Diego, CA 92117, for its general use and purposes.

Contingent Bequests
A contingent bequest is, as its name suggests, contingent on the occurrence of a particular set of factors or circumstances.  For example, all other beneficiaries are deceased or the primary designated organization no longer exists.

Example:  I give, devise, and bequeath to Named Person, $X or X%.  Should Named Person predecease me, I direct this sum or percentage to Floresta (Federal Tax ID# ), a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization located at San Diego, CA 92117, for its general use and purposes. 

The information provided is not intended to be legal or tax advice.  It is always advisable to consult with a qualified estate planning attorney when drafting your will to ensure your wishes for family and Floresta are properly documented.  For more information about this opportunity please contact us at 800.633.5319.

Estate Planning

There are some unusually favorable tax benefits to be derived from using a charitable trust to provide a future gift. At the same time, the trust can be designed in a way that provides a lifetime income to the donor. The following example illustrates the benefits, as well as the basics, of how a charitable trust works.

Ralph and Sally Brown, age 70, are recently retired. One of the assets they own is a second home with a value of $265,000. The home originally cost the Browns $28,000. The couple has considered selling it and giving part of the proceeds to charity, but reconsidered after learning about the unfavorable tax consequences of a sale.

The couple learned that a charitable trust might make it possible for them to achieve their objective with much more favorable tax benefits.

Highly appreciated assets, like the Browns' second home, may be transferred into a charitable trust and subsequently sold by the trust without the imposition of a tax on the capital gain. Most of the value is preserved by using this simple plan. There are, in addition, income as well as estate tax benefits.

After selling the second home, the trust reinvests the proceeds from the sale, and the Browns will receive income from this reinvestment for the remainder of their lives. Upon their deaths, the value remaining in the trust is transferred to charity.

Other planning tools exist and offer unique opportunities to derive the highest levels of value from any assets that have appreciated over the years.

An increasing source of support for our efforts is coming from wills and trusts. And if we're to successfully meet the challenges of tomorrow, this kind of focus on the future is essential.