ENDOWMENT FUND COMMITTEE

Have You Thought About Your Legacy?

Your Endowment Fund Committee suggests that you may want to consider some ideas about the legacy we leave behind and what it means to each of us individually and as a church community.  One type of legacy is the personal mark we will leave behind when we die.  Another type of legacy is the material possessions and assets we leave behind.  For most of us the two can be related to each other. 

No matter what we leave behind, it is important to be intentional about our wishes, especially regarding the material aspects of our life.  You may have a treasured family heirloom and want to leave it to a particular loved one.  A written instruction is needed to be sure your wishes will be known and carried out.  For an insurance policy on our life a beneficiary designation can document our wishes.  For our financial assets, like bank and investment accounts, a will or trust instrument is needed to reflect our desires for their distribution after our death. If we are fortunate enough to own a home or other property we will need to have suitable estate planning documents in place to be sure our wishes are known.

What is your legacy? How do you want to distribute the material and financial resources you have gathered? Are your wishes written in a legally binding document? The simplest document to reflect these wishes is a Will. Another valuable document could be a Living Trust which is generally a more comprehensive manner of documenting your wishes.

If we die without being intentional and clear in a document such as a will or trust, the law will make presumptions about our wishes. No matter what we have said while alive, our verbal wishes are not recognized under the law. This is actually a safeguard for our wishes. They must be in writing and executed with the proper legal formalities.

How can we leave a legacy for our church community and other non-profit concerns?

Endowment gifts are planned gifts to the mission and ministries of our church. They have enduring impact because endowment funds are permanent; their principal can never be spent. Only the income from such funds will be used for mission and ministries. Another way to make your dreams to come true could be with a Gift Annuity, a charitable giving instrument with many attractive features.

To learn more about these matters, contact the Endowment Fund Committee, a resource for you and the entire church community on the topic of your legacy. info@campbellunited.org

Terry Johnson

George W. Cleveland