Legacy & Planned Gifts

Planned gifts make Beech Brook stronger for future generations.

By making a gift through your estate to Beech Brook, you can create a legacy of hope for vulnerable children and families. Your generous gift will enable Beech Brook to help children for many years to come, while also creating real tax benefits for you and your heirs.

Bequests

Will bequests are among the simplest and most common of planned gifts. Bequests can be changed or modified if your circumstances change, without affecting your assets or cash flow during your lifetime. Because your bequest reduces the value of your estate for federal estate tax purposes, it is also usually exempt from state inheritance taxes.  

There are various types of bequests (general, specific, residual, contingent and percentage) and they can be either restricted for a particular use or purpose, or unrestricted. It is therefore advisable to consult with your financial advisor if you have any questions regarding the proper wording of your particular bequest.

Your bequest can be in the form of cash, securities or specific property.

Here is sample wording for an outright, unconditional, unrestricted bequest to be used for general operating purposes:

“I give and bequeath to Beech Brook the sum of $___, or the face value of ___ bonds, or ___% of my estate.”

Other Planned Gifts

Other planned gifts include life insurance policies, trusts or other vehicles.

Life Insurance – Giving life insurance is an often overlooked, yet simple and convenient, way for you to donate more than otherwise possible. You can give a paid policy, buy a new policy with Beech Brook as the beneficiary, purchase a single premium policy with Beech Brook as the owner and beneficiary, or add Beech Brook as a beneficiary to an existing policy.

Charitable Remainder Trusts – These are powerful gift-giving and tax-saving devices in which property or money is donated to Beech Brook, but you continue to use the property and/or receive income from it during your lifetime. Beech Brook receives the principal after a specified period of time. You avoid any capital gains tax on the donated assets, and also receive an income tax deduction for the fair market value of the remainder interest that the trust earned. In addition, the asset is removed from your estate, reducing subsequent estate taxes.

Gifts of Real Estate – When you make an outright, irrevocable gift of real property to Beech Brook, you may be eligible for a charitable income tax deduction equal to the full, fair market value of the property, as well as reduced capital gains tax.

Retirement Plans – If you have accumulated funds in a company pension plan or IRA beyond your needs for a comfortable retirement, you may consider using this account to make a gift to Beech Brook. If this gift is made at death, it can lower your estate taxes through the charitable deduction it provides.

What is the next step?

These gift ideas are only a few of the ways in which you can create your legacy of hope to support the children and families of Beech Brook for years to come. We are grateful for your support, and will acknowledge your generosity through membership in Beech Brook’s Children’s Hope Society.

Arrangements for any planned gift should be made in consultation with a financial professional. If you have already arranged for a bequest or other planned gift, please let us know so that we can acknowledge and honor your support. If you are still evaluating your philanthropic goals, please contact us and we’ll be happy to work with you and your advisors to find the option that best suits your needs. For more information, please call the Development Office at 216.831.2255.

Children's Hope Society

The Children’s Hope Society honors donors whose planned gifts demonstrate their commitment to the work and future of Beech Brook. These gifts, which are placed in Beech Brook’s Endowment Fund, allow supporters to create their own legacies of hope for children and families. The interest income from the endowment supports the ongoing provision of high-quality services for children and families, innovation and program development, and research.

The Jeptha Homer Wade Society

The Jeptha Homer Wade Society honors our most significant supporters, each of whom has contributed $100,000 or more in total to Beech Brook. The Wade Family played a unique and treasured role in our history over several generations, beginning with the donation of the orphanage on St. Clair Avenue in the 1870s to the land and several buildings on our present campus in the 1920s. Members of the Wade Family served more than 130 years on the Board of Directors, and their legacy lives on through ongoing gifts from family members today.