Including the Center in your will or
estate plan means that you are leaving a legacy of support for
scholarship. In addition to this altruistic motivation, there are
significant tax advantages.
Charitable bequests are excluded from your
adjusted gross estate for estate tax purposes. To make sure that all
legal requirements are met, it is important that you have an attorney
draft or revise your will. The following sample language may be helpful
as you arrange your will:
“I give (specific amount, specific
percentage of your estate, or residue) to the Center for Advanced Study
in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford, a nonprofit corporation, organized and
existing under the laws of the State of California, and with principal
business address of 75 Alta Road, Stanford, CA 94305, for its general
purposes.”
There are several types of bequests:
Specific Bequest
This is a gift of a specific item to a specific beneficiary. For
example, “I give my Renoir painting to the Center for Advanced Study in
the Behavioral Sciences.” If that specific property has been disposed
of before your death, the bequest fails and no claim can be made to any
other property. In other words, the Center would not receive the value
of the painting.
General Bequest
This type of bequest gives an amount of money or a percentage of your
estate to a specific beneficiary. You may designate a specific dollar
amount or a specific percentage. An example is, “I leave 10 percent of
my estate to the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford. ”
Residual Bequest
For this type of gift, your estate will pay all debts, taxes, expenses,
and specific bequests first. Then the remaining amount—the residue—will
be transferred to the Center. For example, “I give all the rest,
residue and remainder of my real and personal estate to the Center for
Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford.”
Contingent Bequest
You can specify that the Center receive all or a portion of your estate
if certain conditions are met. For example, you can name the Center as
a beneficiary of your estate only if there are no surviving close
family members. An example is, “I give all the rest, residue and
remainder of my real and personal estate to my husband, John, if he
survives me; if not, then 50 percent in equal shares to my children who
survive me and 50 percent to the Center for Advanced Study in the
Behavioral Sciences at Stanford. ”
We hope that you will tell us when you
have named the Center in your will. We would like the opportunity to
thank you for your generosity.
If you prefer to remain anonymous, your
gift will be kept completely confidential, but recognition of your gift
can encourage others to follow your example. We will honor your wishes
either way. For more information, or for assistance in arranging your
gift, please
contact us.
