Leave a Lasting Legacy

The following is intended to help you and your attorney in drafting a bequest that satisfies your interests. As you consult your attorney on the selection of appropriate wording to reflect your own goals and intentions regarding the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning, be sure our organization’s correct legal name appears in all final documents as:

“The Florence Melton Adult Mini-School Corporation, 520 Eighth Ave., 4th floor, NY, NY 10018, a Ohio nonprofit corporation, or its successor, Federal Tax Identification Number: 01-0725179.”

General Bequest of a stated sum of money may be worded:

“I give to the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School Corporation, 520 Eighth Ave., 4th floor, NY, NY 10018, a Ohio nonprofit corporation, or its successor, Federal Tax Identification Number 01-0725179 [insert here the exact dollar amount].”

Specific Bequest of a certain asset from your estate may be worded:

“I give to the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School Corporation, 520 Eighth Ave., 4th floor, NY, NY 10018, a Ohio nonprofit corporation, or its successor, Federal Tax Identification Number 01-0725179, [insert here a description of the particular property].”

Residuary Bequest, after other bequests and expenses have been paid, may be worded:

“I give to the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School Corporation, 520 Eighth Ave., 4th floor, NY, NY 10018, a Ohio nonprofit corporation, or its successor, Federal Tax Identification Number 01-0725179, all [or a portion] of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate.”

Contingent Bequest if the person making the will is not survived by certain individuals:

“If [name/s of primary beneficiary/ies] do/es not survive me, or shall die within ninety (90) days from the date of my death, or as a result of a common disaster, then I give to the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School Corporation, 520 Eighth Ave., 4th floor, NY, NY 10018, a Ohio nonprofit corporation, or its successor, Federal Tax Identification Number 01-0725179, [insert here the exact dollar amount, description of property, or percentage of residual estate].”

There are several ways that you can define the amount of your charitable gift to the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning. They are:

• A gift of a particular amount of money. For example, you give $25,000.
• A gift of a specific item or items. For example, you give 1,000 shares of ABC Corporation.
• A gift that will be made only if one or more conditions are met. For example, you give $25,000 provided we still offer a particular program or service and your spouse does not survive you.
• A gift that will be made from the remainder of your estate once all other bequests, debts, and taxes have been paid. For example, you give 25% of the remainder of your estate. Often called a "residuary bequest," this approach assures that your family will be taken care of before your estate makes a bequest to us.

You have several options for telling the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning how we may use your bequest once we receive it. They are:

• An unrestricted bequest – This is a gift for our general purposes. This can be the most useful kind of gift because it allows us to put your gift to the best possible use at the time we receive it.
• A restricted bequest – This is a gift for a specific use, such as a special project or program that is important to you. It is best for you to consult with us before placing restrictions on your bequest to be sure we can carry out your wishes.
• An endowed bequest – This is a gift where our organization invests your donation along with the rest of our endowment. We distribute these funds in accordance with our endowment spending policy. This approach assures that your gift will continue to benefit us long after you're gone. An endowed bequest can be restricted or unrestricted.
• An honorary bequest – This is a gift made in honor of someone else. Any form of bequest can also be an honorary bequest. We would be pleased to recognize the people you wish to honor with your gift.

An alternative to a charitable bequest is to designate the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning as the beneficiary of your retirement account assets. This gift is simple because there is no need to modify your will or living trust. All you need to do is complete a beneficiary designation form with your plan administrator.

A gift of retirement assets has the added advantage of being a very tax-wise way to make an estate gift. This is because your retirement assets, if left to individuals, will be subject to income tax when they receive distributions and, for most non-spouses, those distributions must take place within 10 years, potentially pushing your beneficiaries into higher income tax brackets. If you give your retirement assets to a tax-exempt organization such as Melton, 100 percent of the retirement assets will be available for its charitable purposes. If you want to remember us in your estate plan, a tax-efficient strategy is to leave other types of assets—cash, securities, real estate—to your heirs and give the more heavily taxed retirement assets to the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning.

Note: Directing your retirement assets to both charitable and noncharitable beneficiaries can accelerate the income tax. Always consult with your advisors before naming the beneficiaries of your retirement assets.

You can also use a life insurance policy to make a gift to Melton. It’s usually as simple as completing a form with the insurance company designating the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning as the beneficiary of all or a portion of the death benefit of your life insurance policy. As an alternative to naming Melton as the beneficiary, you can transfer ownership of the policy. Transferring ownership can produce an immediate income tax charitable deduction for the value of the policy and future income tax deductions if you continue to pay premiums on the policy.

A commercial annuity will sometimes have a remaining value at the end of the annuitant’s lifetime. You can name Melton to receive all or part of this amount by designating us as a beneficiary (sole or partial) on the appropriate form from the insurance company.

You can instruct your bank to pay Melton all or a portion of what remains in a checking or savings account. Your bank can provide you with the appropriate beneficiary designation form.

You can instruct your investment company to transfer to Melton some or all investments held in the account at the time of your passing. Your broker or agent can help you complete the process, which may be as simple as amending the name on the account to include the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning.

The donor-advised fund (DAF) is becoming an increasingly popular way to make a charitable gift. Here are two simple ways you can make a gift through your DAF:

• Make an outright gift by suggesting a grant to the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning.
• Designate the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning to receive all or a portion of the fund value upon the termination of the fund.

You can select the option that best suits your philanthropic and financial goals to support the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning. Just contact your fund administrator to request a distribution or beneficiary form or download the appropriate form(s) from your administrator’s website.

The Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) offers multiple benefits for making gifts from your IRA.

• You must be 70½ years or older at the time of the gift.
• Gifts must go directly from your IRA to the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning.
• For 2024, total QCD gifts cannot exceed $105,000 per donor.

• If you don’t itemize your income tax deductions, a QCD offers all of the benefits of an itemized income tax charitable deduction
• If you are age 73 or older and must take a Required Minimum Distribution RMD, a QCD gift can satisfy your RMD without increasing your income taxes.
• You may direct your gift to a program or area of your choice.
• It is a wonderful way to create an immediate impact on the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning.

Contact your IRA administrator to request a Qualified Charitable Distribution from your IRA to Melton.