Leave A Legacy: Articles & Resources
Hometown Heroes
by Sydney Brewster
Is there any one who hasn’t fantasized about being the hero – the person for whom the tickertape is thrown out the windows to the cheers of adoring friends and strangers. We imagine ourselves as heroes for some great humanitarian gesture, or the accomplishment of a great achievement. Most of us will never experience the roar of the crowd except in our day dreams. Nevertheless, all of us can be unselfish heroes in our community. We can be philanthropists and achievers by planning to help the causes about which we are passionate. Two such heroes are Hattie Braetzel Kremen and Charla Richards Kreitzburg. Both of these women lived very colorful and diverse lives. They were devoted to their loved ones, both people and issues.
After her husband Leonard’s death, Hattie Kremen created a trust fund so that the organizations she and her husband had supported would continue to receive gifts after they were gone. Hattie died in 1996, but she continues to be a hero to the Boys and Girls Club of Salem, the Salem Hospital Foundation, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, the Union Gospel Mission, Willamette University College of Law, and to those who are served by these organizations. Hattie left a legacy by creating the Hattie Braetzel Krement Foundation which provides annual gifts to the organizations she loved.
Likewise, Charla Richards Kreitzburg cared passionately about certain issues. The community lost Charla in 1998, but did not lose her passionate concern. The Charla Richards Kreitzburg Foundation will make it’s first awards of grant dollars this year. The Foundation will award funds to Oregon based projects which will benefit persons in the Salem-Keizer area. Charla established these guidelines for Foundation projects:“The Foundation shall have three specific purposes in the following areas of priority. First, to protect women’s right to choose safe, legal abortions; second, to provide for the general empowerment of women; and third, to save and promote the environmental soundness of the planet.”
How would you like to be a hero? Where would you like to leave a legacy? Many of us believe we do not have the means to support the organizations and causes about which we care. However, all of us can be heros by leaving a legacy with the right guidance. Two of Salem’s best estate-planning professionals appear on video for the Leave a Legacy project to explain how people can include charitable gifts in their plans and become a hero in thelives of others.
“Each of us has a decision to make,” said financial planner Ron LeBlanc. “We can either give our wealth in the form of taxes to the government or we can give it to the local community to support those organiztions that align with our ideals and values.”
“When I sit down to talk with folks who have a taxable estate about the planning choices available to them,” said attorney Kathy Evans, “I borrow a phrase that focuses on the concept of social capital and personal capital. Personal capital is that part of your wealth – whether it be you paycheck or your estate after you pass away – that you get to keep, you get to direct. And you can decide who receives it. Then you also have that other part of your wealth, which we call your social capital, and it’s that part of your wealth that you cannot keep, no matter what you’d like to do. It is going to leave you and leave your family. And the question that a person faces is what they want to do with that social capital. Ms. Evans goes on to ask,“Would you prefer that it go off to Washington, D.C., and buy another wing on a B-52 or wherever it might end up? Or would you prefer todirect where you’d like that wealth to go? Would you like it to stay in Oregon? Would you like it to stay in Salem? Would you like it to be used for things that matter to you? If you want to direct that social capital to something you care about, it’s something you can do by undertaking some estate planning and looking at leaving a legacy for the people in this community and in this state.”
Hattie and Charla set an inspiring example. Their efforts can motivate the rest of us to learn about the opportunities to give to the community now and in the future. By serving on volunteer boards and volunteering in other ways, the range of opportunities to give can be explored now. Then, those causes that generate devotion can benefit in the future by some pro-active planning. Those interested in making a difference in the future and becoming a community hero, through a bequest, a life insurance designation, a trust or retirement fund designation may contact an attorney or other qualified financial planner. For more on local heros and their legacies visit the Leave a Legacy project web page at www.leavealegacy.ncn.com.
Brewster, a member of the Leave a Legacy steering committee, is a Salem attorney and consultant on resource and project development for charitable organizations. You can email her at 3W684@home.com.
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Salem activist Charla Richards-Kreitzberg left a lasting legacy for the future of her community by establishing the Charla Richards-Kreitzberg Charitable Foundation.
Following her death in May 1998, her estate established the foundation with about $2.5 million in assets. The foundation will fund projects in three areas:
- Protecting women’s right to obtain safe, legal abortions;
- Empowering women to achieve true equality and aid all people attempting to be free of discrimination; and
- Promoting the environmental soundness of our planet.
The foundation board plans to focus on Oregon projects and expects to award grants of about $125,000 in its first year.
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The estate of David Henry Ehrlich left a legacy of $150,000 to the Oregon Symphony Association in Salem, and the impact of the gift has been felt long after his death more than three years ago.
“It meant a great deal to the organization,” said Nancy Stockdale, executive director of the symphony association. “It has helped us in so many areas; mostly it has given our board the freedom to think in a bigger scope of what we can do for the community in symphonic music.
The Ehrlich bequest and the association’s participation in the Leave a Legacy project have encouraged the organization to seek other planned gifts.
“We’ve tried this (planned giving) before, but we just never followed through,” Stockdale said. “Now, with Leave a Legacy, we can get information out to people. It’s not scarey anymore. We would not be doing this without Leave a Legacy to help us.”
In 1996 the Ehrlich gift kept the association from ending the year in a deficit. Now, with more than $150,000 deposited in the Oregon Community Foundation, a reliable income stream of up to $8,000 per year has given the association the financial stability it needs.
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When Ted Huntley died in 1996, his trust left more than $800,000 in assets to six charitable organizations in the Salem area.
“He showered everyone with his sweet ways,” wrote Pat Robbins, admission director for Willamette Lutheran Homes, describing Ted Huntley. “He was simply one of the sweetest, most generous men I have ever met.”
Huntley’s gifts to local charities set an example for others. They also provide a model for a new project, “Leave A Legacy,” which is planning a public campaign next spring in the Mid-Willamette Valley to urge others to leave gifts to charities when they die.
Americans are very generous with their favorite charities. Each year about 70 percent of Americans make gifts to charity, according to Non Profit Times. At the same time, only about six percent of Americans plan to leave part of their estate to charity when they die, according to a survey conducted by the National Committee on Planned Giving.
“There’s a disconnect there that Leave A Legacy is trying to correct,” said Nancy Strapp, Vice President of Development for the Presbyterian Church (USA) Foundation.
Strapp led the first Leave A Legacy project in Columbus, Ohio, in 1996. The National Committee on Planned Giving adopted the Ohio model and distributed it nationally. Since then, more than 90 communities in the United States and Canada have launched Leave A Legacy projects.
Starting with a handful of nonprofit organizations, Leave A Legacy in the Mid-Willamette Valley has grown to more than 50 charities and has spread to allied professionals (lawyers, accountants, insurance agents, trust officers and financial planners).
Huntley was a plant manager for Willamette Industries. He and his wife built a small fortune in Willamette Industries stock, and he lived the last 12 of his years at the Willamette Lutheran Home in Keizer.
Robbins, the home’s admission director, wrote in the organization’s newsletter that Huntley was “never one to brag or take himself too seriously.” When he died in 1996, “Ted left a living legacy,” she wrote. “This final, unselfish act means that our services will continue to be made available for some of our residents who find they have outlived their ability to pay.”
Ted Stang, chairman of the United Way and a member of the Legacy Steering Committee, wrote in the United Way newsletter that the Huntley gift to his agency had a huge impact. “Mr. Huntley’s generosity will touch hundreds, possibly thousands, of lives,” he said.
In addition to the United Way, Willamette Lutheran Home, Oregon Public Broadcasting and the Red Cross, the Huntley gifts also benefitted the Salvation Army, Easter Seals and the March of Dimes.
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Nina Boots was a druggist who lived in Salem in the 1940s. She moved away from Salem after only a few years here, but she always remembered the Salem Public Library. When she died a few years ago, she left $285,000 to the library, and about one-third of that was used to build the new West Salem branch library. The rest will be used for other library branches, continuing a legacy that will benefit hundreds of library patrons.
Living Trust or a Will? Pros and Cons
by Thomas H. McGirr, CTFA
Before you rush off and replace your will with a living trust, you should first determine whether it is the best estate-planning device for you. As with most things, there are advantages as well as disadvantages. A few of those are set out below. As always, you should consult your attorney or professional advisor for more information.
The most common reason cited for a living trust is the desire to avoid probate. Probate is the legal process involved in transferring assets held in the decedent’s name to the beneficiaries. Probate insures that the provisions of your will are carried out. It also provides a formal mechanism to sort out and pay legitimate claims against the estate. Many fail to recognize this major benefit. If done correctly, probate will insure that the decedent’s assets pass to the beneficiaries’ free from any potential future liability.
A classic example might be a surgeon or business owner who may have potential, but yet undiscovered, claims against him. By having the assets pass through probate at death, it flushes out the potential claimants and determines the validity of those claims. If a claim is not presented during the allocated time, the claimant usually loses the right to present the claim later.
Criticisms of probate include cost, time delay in distributing assets, and publicity. Executor, attorney and court costs average 3-5% of the estate value but can be much higher. Assets can be tied up for months and even years. Moreover, probate records are open to the public. That means anyone can see how much you have and who is getting it.
Living trusts can avoid the probate process entirely. Because you transfer you assets to the living trust during your lifetime, there are usually no assets to probate. The designated trustee merely pays your final expenses and distributes the assets to your beneficiaries as directed in the trust document. Because most trusts are revocable, you retain as much control as you wish.
Perhaps a more important reason to have a living trust is the provision for “back-up management” if you become incapacitated. In such a case, the designated trustee steps in to handle your investments, pays your bills, insures tax returns are prepared and can even take steps to provide in-home health care.
Obviously, care must be given in selecting the back-up trustee. Many initially choose a family member as their successor trustee assuming that child’s responsibilities would be limited to paying the final expenses and distributing the assets upon your death. However, many have second thoughts when they realize that child may have to assume responsibility for all your financial affairs during an extended incapacity. This being the case, you should give consideration to his or her investment capabilities, impartiality, experience and availability. Sometimes it may make sense to designate a professional corporate trustee to handle the assets and paperwork and request a family member to serve as your legal guardian to handle your personal needs. This arrangement insures a “family touch” while relieving the family member of the burdens (and liability) of handling your finances.
Living trusts can allow for the distribution of assets within a few months. In addition, the trust does not become public record. Only your beneficiaries (and Uncle Sam) can see the document.
Living trusts are not for everyone, however. First of all, they are usually more expensive to draft than wills. Unless there are mitigating circumstances, it may not be cost efficient to spend more now in attorney fees just to save some probate costs later. The smaller the estate, the smaller the savings will be.
Secondly, living trusts require constant bookkeeping. If you buy new assets, they must be added to the trust. If you sell something, the proceeds need to be placed in the trust. If something somehow “falls out” of the trust, you may still have a probate.
Finally, a living trust will not provide the protection from future claims against your assets. If your occupation is such that there may be some outstanding yet undiscovered claims at your death, you may want to have at least some assets probated.
While a living trust can be an extremely beneficial estate planning device, everyone’s situation is different. You should seek professional advice from you attorney or local trust company to determine whether a trust may be in your best interests.