"Your Legacy…Their Future"
 By making a planned gift to the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire, you are extending a commitment to the animals of our community beyond your own lifetime. A bequest to the League will help ensure that homeless, abandoned and stray animals will receive the second chances they all deserve. They will know that someone cared - someone like YOU.
The Legacy Society
In 2004, our 100th year, we established our Legacy Society to honor those, who, through a planned gift to the League, continue to provide for the welfare of future generations of animals and people in our community. The membership of the Society represents those who, by commitment of their own resources and compassionate example, will allow the important work that began 100 years ago to continue. Individuals who wish to provide information about their planned gift to the League are honored through membership in our Legacy Society.
Making a Bequest in Your Will
The most common form of "planned giving" is made through your will. Your will distributes your property in the manner that you wish when you die. Your will can establish trusts for beneficiaries who lack the ability or desire to mange an inheritance. You can nominate those you would prefer to administer your estate. Having a legal will prepared can even minimize the settlement costs of your estate. The making of a will ensures that your assets are distributed according to your wishes, not the state in which you reside.
You may wish to have your attorney notify the League of the terms, conditions and circumstances of your will. The Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire is a tax exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity chartered by the IRS. Our federal tax identification number is 02-0222790. If you already have a will, you need only call your attorney and advise him/her of your interest in making a bequest to the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire. In most cases, a bequest may be stated by the creation of a codicil to your existing will.
You can name the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire as a beneficiary in the following ways:
- A specific bequest names a certain sum of cash, securities or property to the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire.
- A percentage bequest allows you to provide a specific percentage of your estate to the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire.
- A residual bequest allows you to designate the remainder of your estate to the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire, once you have made all your specific bequests.
- A contingent bequest provides you with the opportunity to name the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire as beneficiary if one or more named beneficiaries pre-deceases you.
- A life income bequest can be used to give the income generated by certain assets to a named individual for his/her lifetime, and have such assets pass to the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire following the individual's death.
- A trust can be established under your will to provide for assets to be managed for the benefit of both the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire and your family members. Carefully drafted trusts can produce significant tax savings while still providing income for your loved ones.
Other Kinds of Special Gifts
A Charitable Trust
By utilizing a properly drafted charitable remainder trust, you may transfer property to a trust during your lifetime and obtain a current income tax deduction. If you transfer appreciated assets to such a trust, you can also avoid the capital gains tax you would otherwise pay if you sell the property. The trust will typically be designed to distribute income to you and/or other family members during your lifetime(s) and, thereafter, to distribute the remaining trust property to the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire. Such a trust can also generate estate tax savings.
Life Insurance
Gifts of life insurance are unique. For a relatively small annual premium, you can provide a substantial gift for the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire. You may give a policy you already have, or purchase a new policy for the benefit of the League. You may have a life insurance policy that is now fully paid-up, but is no longer needed. In most states, including New Hampshire, you can transfer ownership and beneficiary status to the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire.
Gifts of life insurance are generally deductible up to 50% of your annual adjusted gross income, and there is a five year carry-over for any excess. Your life insurance agent or attorney can assist you with any transfer, and answer questions about your state"s laws that apply to the ownership of insured policies. Even if you don't transfer ownership of the policy and get a current tax deduction, you can still name the League as beneficiary and have the life insurance proceeds qualify for an estate tax deduction upon your death.
You may wish to purchase a new insurance policy naming the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire as beneficiary or co-beneficiary. This is a convenient way of making a special gift much larger than its cost to you. If ownership of the new policy is also transferred to the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire, your annual premium payments may be deductible as charitable contributions. It is possible to make a major gift to the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire, use life insurance to replace those assets, and achieve important tax savings. The League will be pleased to present estate planning options which might work best for your situation.
Retirement Plans
A simple way to benefit the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire after your death is by designating the League as the beneficiary or co-beneficiary of your pension, 401K or individual retirement account. Such gifts can have significant tax advantages. Generally, your retirement account will be subject to income tax when received by your beneficiary. The income tax does not apply, however, if the beneficiary is a qualifying tax-exempt organization like the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire.
Retirement plans are also included in assets in your estate and, therefore, may trigger an estate tax in addition to income tax. The estate tax can also be avoided, however, by directing such plans to the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire. The double taxation of retirement plans means that only a small percentage of retirement plan assets might reach an individual beneficiary. The advantage of naming the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire as beneficiary of your retirement plan (and perhaps choosing other assets to leave to family members under your will instead) is that the full amount of the retirement plan assets will reach your intended beneficiary.
Savings Accounts and Certificates of Deposit
One of the most convenient ways to give to the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire is through savings accounts, certificates of deposit and other savings plans. All you need to do is make the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire a joint owner of the account, with rights of survivorship only.This approach is not a permanent arrangement. At any time, you can withdraw the money, change the survivor designation or close the account, thereby revoking the arrangement. The Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire has no claims whatsoever to the account except upon your death. You remain in complete control of the account. The amount of the account is deductible for your estate purposes. The gift will pass immediately to the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire in the event of your death, without any delay or expense to your estate.
Please... Share Your Plans With Us
We encourage our friends to tell us when they have included the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire in their will, or made any kind of planned gift.
Many friends have named the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire as a beneficiary in their wills, life insurance policies, retirement plans, certificates of deposit or bank accounts. Unfortunately, the League has occasionally learned of a generous gift only after a donor's death, when it is too late to thank the donor personally. It is our goal to recognize the generosity of our donors personally and in their lifetimes. That recognition, along with allowing our benefactors to lead by example, is the purpose of the Legacy Society.
Have you named the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire in your will, or made us the beneficiary of a retirement plan, life insurance policy, certificate of deposit or bank account? If so, please give us the opportunity to thank you. Just let us know by writing to the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire, 545 Route 101, Bedford, New Hampshire 03110 Attn: Win Saltmarsh, Chief Development Officer.
If you would like more information about the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire and its planned giving program, please email Win at win@rescueleague.org or call 603-472-5788.
Nothing in the foregoing Planned Giving section of this Web site is offered as legal advice or should be taken that way. Rather, this section is designed to provide a general outline of options available to would-be planned givers. If you wish to make a planned gift, you should consult an attorney to evaluate your individual circumstances.
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