Legacy Gifts

Leaving a bequest to the Franciscan Friars, T.O.R. is an excellent way to make a significant charitable gift. In this way, you can be assured that the money will be there for you as long as you need it for your own expenses.

You can choose to leave a fixed amount, a percentage of your total estate, or the remainder after your other heirs have been provided for, your debts settled, etc. The last two options are best in most cases, as you will probably not know what the exact final value of your estate will be.

Whether you are leaving a charitable bequest or not, make sure you have a valid will on file. If you don’t, the courts will decide how your money and property are divided up, and this may not correspond with your wishes. The only way you can leave specific items or amounts to specific people, or to leave any money to a charity or organization you support, is to specify this in a will. Your attorney should be consulted in preparing this important legal document, and you should always keep a copy on hand and review it at least once a year.

With this option, you make a gift to the Franciscan Friars, T.O.R. which we invest for growth. From this amount, we pay you a guaranteed annual sum for life. You can also choose to split this payout with another person.

In this way you benefit Franciscan ministries while ensuring that you have a supplemental source of income as long as you live.

If you make your gift via a cash payment or a gift of appreciated stocks or bonds, you are entitled to a federal income tax deduction for that amount. You can also make a one-time payment of up to $50,000 from an Individual Retirement Account if you are age 70½ or older. This counts toward your required minimum distribution and you are exempt from paying income tax on that amount.

You may have a life insurance policy that is no longer needed, perhaps because the original beneficiary has pre-deceased you or no longer has need for the money. In such cases, you can change the beneficiary to the Franciscan Friars, T.O.R.

You can also take out a new policy if you wish to do so specifically to make a charitable gift at the time of your death. In this way, through the payment of modest periodic premiums, you can make a much larger bequest than you might have otherwise been able to. Consult with your attorney to determine whether your premium payments are tax-deductible in these cases.

If you own stocks, bonds or securities, you can donate them to us and receive a tax deduction for the fair market value of the stock on the day you donate it. (For this reason, if you are donating a stock that has lost value, it’s better to sell it first and then donate the money you get for it.)

If you donate an appreciated stock, you can also avoid the capital-gains taxes on it by making it a charitable donation. Always consult your stockbroker or attorney before donating a stock, so that you can make the most of any tax benefit.

Please contact the Franciscan Friars, T.O.R. before donating stock to us, as there may be some that the rules of our Order would not allow us to accept.

If you are at least 70½ years old and have an individual retirement account (IRA), you can make a tax-deferred charitable gift of up to $100,000 from that account to a charitable organization ($200,000 for a married couple who file jointly). This amount counts toward the Required Minimum Distribution that you are required to take from your account.

If you and your family don’t need all the money from the IRA, this can be a good option since you won’t have to pay taxes on the amount you donate. The donation must be made directly from the IRA. Be sure to work with your IRA trustee or custodian on this, because the rules are quite specific.

A Donor Advised Fund (DAF) is a charitable investment account that you maintain for the sole purpose of supporting charitable organizations you care about. When you contribute cash, securities or other assets to a DAF at a public charity, you are usually eligible to take an immediate tax deduction. Then those funds can be invested for tax-free growth and you can recommend grants to any IRS-qualified public charity.

The fund is “donor advised” because the bank or institution that administers the fund has the ability to decline your recommendation if the charity you specify is thought to be fraudulent or to engage in questionable financial practices. However, a recommendation to an IRS-qualified charity will almost always be accepted.

The Franciscan Friars, T.O.R. are an IRS-qualified public charity to receive grants or gifts through Donor Advised Funds.

A recurring donation is one in which you transfer a modest amount repeatedly on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. By making smaller gifts spaced apart, you can give a gift that really adds up over time. You can increase, decrease, or even stop payments of these recurring gifts according to your financial needs at the time.

Please visit this page to arrange a recurring monthly gift to the Franciscan Friars, T.O.R.