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Your impact
can last forever

• Leave a Legacy. Future generations will love you for it.
• You can create a fund that will give back to our community forever.
• Take advantage of numerous tax and financial benefits.
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Giving Home > How to Give > Bequest

Bequest

A bequest is a gift you can make through your will or living trust or with a codicil to support your favorite cause or our community in general.

A bequest allows you to enjoy and use your property during your lifetime, while making a lasting impact through your gift after you're gone.

Benefits of a bequest

  • Receive an estate tax charitable deduction
  • Reduce the burden of taxes on your family
  • Leave a lasting Legacy for our community

Charitable bequest video

How a bequest works

A bequest is one of the easiest gifts to make. With the help of an attorney, you can include language in your will or trust specifying a gift to be made to family, friends or Washington County Community Foundation as part of your estate plan, or you can make a bequest using a beneficiary designation form.

Here are some of the ways to leave a bequest to Washington County Community Foundation

  • Include a bequest to Washington County Community Foundation in your will or revocable trust
  • Designate Washington County Community Foundation as a full, partial or contingent beneficiary of your retirement account (IRA, 401(k), 403(b) or pension)
  • Name Washington County Community Foundation as a beneficiary of your life insurance policy

Ways to Make a Bequest

A bequest can take several forms, depending on what works best for you and your estate plans:

  • Specific Bequest - You can leave a specific asset or dollar amount to the Washington County Community Foundation—for example, your home, a vehicle, or a gift of $10,000.
  • Percentage Bequest - You can choose to leave a set percentage of your estate. For instance, you might leave 10% of your total estate to support causes you care about.
  • Residual Bequest - After all specific gifts have been distributed, you can leave whatever remains—known as the "residue" of your estate—to the Foundation. This type of gift ensures that the remainder of your estate continues to support the causes that matter to you.

Review sample bequest language

Contact Us

If you have any questions about leaving a bequest to us, please contact us. We would be happy to assist you. If you have been so generous as to include a bequest to Washington County Community Foundation as part of your estate plan, please take the time to let us know. We would like to recognize you and your family for your generosity.