How it Works

A bequest is a provision in your will or living trust that directs a portion of your estate to a named person or charity, such as the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona.  You may bequeath a specific asset, a dollar amount, a percentage of your estate or the remainder of your estate after all other gifts have been distributed.

Retirement plan assets are often ideal candidates for a charitable bequest because they generate "income in respect of a decedent”. In simplified terms, income in respect of a decedent (IRD) is an inherited payment that would have been taxable income to the decedent had he or she received it before death. If the retirement plan directs plan proceeds to a charitable organization, neither the donor's estate nor heirs will realize income from the plan; rather the income will be realized by the tax-exempt recipient organization. Thus, no tax will be paid in the year of distribution.
 
The process of naming a charitable organization is as easy as a phone call away. Contact the plan administrator who holds your retirement account assets. Let them know you would like to name the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona as the beneficiary of all or part of your retirement account. Be sure to contact us so we may appropriately thank you for your generosity. Following is suggested testamentary language depending on the type of gift you desire.