A bequest is a gift from your estate—a transfer of cash, securities, or other property made through your estate plans. You can make a bequest to Stanford by including language in your will or living trust leaving a portion of your estate to the university, or by designating Stanford as a beneficiary of your retirement account or life insurance policy.
Remembering Stanford with a bequest from your estate will help sustain and strengthen the university in years to come. Some of the advantages of creating a bequest include:
A bequest to Stanford can be made for a specific amount, for a percentage of your estate, or for all or a portion of what is left after you have made bequests to your family. To make a gift to Stanford from your estate, you must sign a new will or living trust instrument, add a codicil to your present will, or make an amendment to your present trust instrument.
Alternatively, you can designate Stanford as a beneficiary of a retirement plan or life insurance policy. To do so, contact the retirement plan administrator or life insurance company and complete the appropriate beneficiary designation form. You can designate a specific purpose for such a gift with a separate letter prepared with assistance from the Office of Planned Giving.
To assist you in preparing your bequest, we have provided sample bequest language [2].
When planning for a bequest, you will need to consider how you would like your gift to be used to benefit Stanford—whether unrestricted in purpose or restricted to a specific school or purpose, and whether you would like it to be an expendable fund (to be spent when received) or an endowed fund (to last in perpetuity).
Endowed funds may be established by bequest for many purposes. Some possibilities include:
A fund created by your bequest can carry your name of the name of a family member or other person you wish to honor. Named funds, because of the support they offer to programs and people, are a way to share what is meaningful to you within the university community well into the future. Note that minimum gift amounts required for creating named, endowed funds vary, so please contact the Office of Planned Giving for further information.
If you have included Stanford in your estate plans, please let us know. We would like to thank you for your generosity, make sure the purpose of your gift is understood by the university, and recognize you as a member of the Founding Grant Society [1].
The Office of Planned Giving is happy to help you explore options for designating a bequest to Stanford. Please see our sample language. [2]
Those considering a planned gift should consult their own legal and tax advisors. The staff in the Office of Planned Giving are happy to speak with advisors as well.
The official name of Stanford University is THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY.
Stanford University's federal tax I.D. number is 94-1156365.
Links:
[1] http://giving.stanford.edu/planned-giving/overview/founding-grant-society
[2] http://giving.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/sample-bequest-language.pdf
[3] http://giving.stanford.edu/planned-giving/contact-us
[4] http://giving.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/wp-pg-bequests.pdf
[5] http://giving.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/wp-pg-founding-grant-society.pdf