Wills & Trusts- Leaving Money to a Charity (Part 1)

Legal IQ Tips: Estate Planning

Do you intend to leave your favorite non-profit money in your Will or Trust?  Does your Estate Plan leave money to an organization?

Leaving money to an organization that you have worked with or feel connected to is a noble thing to do.  Many clients enjoy doing this, as they are nervous to give money they may need for their own care, during their lifetime, but are happy to donate some of their Estate, once they have passed on. It’s always wonderful if you can help support an organization monetarily, so that organization can continue to do their good work.

That said, my next two posts are going to focus on some “things to think about” when leaving money to an organization.

1.       Will that organization be here when you are gone? 

It’s a tough thing to think about, but it’s a reality.  Some of the smaller non-profits may not have the means or experience to last 10+ years.  In my experience, while good intentions may be there, the organization may not be around. 

When picking organizations to leave money to, I ask my clients to really think hard about this.  If there is concern in this area, I often advise them that; (1) it may not be best to leave money, (2) they may want to consider leaving a smaller part of their Estate, (3) empower someone to donate the money on your behalf, and/or (4) they should have a specific “back up” plan, if that organization is no longer around.

For example, one of my clients wanted to leave a sum of money to a non-profit horse foundation.  The organization is new and small. There was some concern that the organization may not be around in 20-25 year.  While my client felt compelled to leave the money, we setup an appropriate plan in case the organization was no longer operating. 

For this particular client, we made the choice to leave the money to the specific organization unless the organization was no longer in operation.  If the organization was no longer in operation, the client named a friend, who would be in charge of taking the money, set aside in this bequest, and directed the friend to donate to another organization which worked with retired working horses.  It would be left up to the named individual to choose the organization, but this allowed the money to end up where my client intended, instead of just lumping back into the rest of her Estate, which was set to go to family members.   

2.       What does the organization spend it’s money on?

When you choose to leave money to an organization, you should do your due diligence to understand what the organization spends it’s money on.  I often advise my clients that local organizations, rather than large national chapters, might be better suited them for their Estate Bequest.  I encourage my clients to ask questions about where money is spent and understand long term strategic growth plans for the organization.  Depending on the size of the donation being left, it might make sense to meet with the Executive Director or Development Officer or Board of Directors.  Understanding how donated money is spent by the organization will help you to ensure that the money you left will be used for the purposes you intended.

For example, I had a client who originally thought they were going to leave a sum of money to a national foundation.  After some research, they quickly realized that less than $0.15 of each dollar donated would go to help the individuals in need.  Much of the money goes to salaries and operations.  While salaries and operations are important, this client wanted to make a greater impact on the lives of the needy through direct giving and therefore opted to choose a local, RI based organization, with a similar mission, to leave that portion of her Estate to. 

That all being said, there are national organizations that do wonderful work and use donated money to support their cause.  I just advise my clients to understand what the organization of their choice spends their money on. 

There are no right or wrong answers on the above topics.  These are both just areas you should consider when you think about leaving money to an organization via your Will or Trust.  Working with an Estate Attorney will allow you to address these questions and better ensure your money is used for what you intended. 

More to come on this topic.  In the meantime, if you have any questions or need any help, don’t hesitate to contact me.  I focus my Rhode Island based practice in everything from simple Wills to complicated Trusts.

Estate Planning and Animals- Fetch, RI September Newsletter

Animals and Estate Plans, two words you don’t often hear together, do you? Well, they actually go together as well as peanut butter and jelly!

Read more on this topic, in the article I published in Fetch, RI new additional of their Fall newsletter. (text below)

Interested in learning even more? Join me on October 15 as I present at Fetch, RI on this topic. Click Here to Register.

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Fetch, RI Fall Newsletter

'Estate Planning and Animals'- David Craven, Esq.

Animals and Estate Plans, two words you don’t often hear together, do you?  Well, they actually go together as well as peanut butter and jelly! 

When an individual sets up an Estate Plan, I always advise them to create important documents that will allow people they love to take care of them if anything were to render them incompetent, unresponsive, or unable to take care of themselves.  Those important documents are items like: living wills, health care power of attorneys, and financial powers of attorneys.  On top of that, we talk about how they want to “take care of others” after they pass, and those “others” can include their family members, both human and furry, as well as gifts and donations to organizations, like an animal advocacy group.

Through different Estate planning tools (a Last Will & Testament or a Trust), you can guarantee that your family pet is taken care of.  There are ways to ensure the pet goes to the individual you want and to leave money for his/her care.  I have seen informal agreements fail to be carried out, and accordingly, always advise clients to include their pet in their formal Estate Plan, rather than leave the pet’s fate up to a “handshake”.  Depending on your wishes, you can leave a lump sum for the care of your dog, or setup an entire trust to care for your horse, detailing out everything from who will train the animal to who will make the difficult call on euthanasia. 

Some individuals really want to give money to a specific Animal Advocacy Organization.  I often find that individuals think they need to make donations while they are alive but are hesitant to give money away, since they fear they may need it for their own long term medical care. There are many ways to leave money to an organization upon one’s death.  With a good attorney, you can be creative on how you use your assets and setup your Estate Plan, so that the money goes for the purpose you desire.  Depending on how complicated and specific your wishes are, there are many different options ranging from a one-time lump sum donation to setting up a fund or a trust specifically for on-going donations.

Planning early, and with an attorney, will save you and your loved ones from ending up in a costly and even more stressful situation than necessary regarding your care.  You’ll also give yourself the peace of mind knowing that your loved ones, be it furry or human, are taken care of, and afford yourself the opportunity to gift money to an animal loving organization if you so choose.

I’ll be at Fetch on October 15th.  Feel free to join me while I go into more details on the topic of Estate Planning and Animals.  If you can’t make it, and would like to talk with me about the topic, feel free to check out my website, email me, or give me a call.

Consumer Protection- Utility Scams

Legal IQ Tips: Consumer Protection         

Over the past several months, I’ve had an increased number of clients coming to me because they were victimized by a scam.  Many of them involve emails or money wire transfers.  That said, there are all types of scams out there and my next few posts are going to focus on some new scams that I have been hearing about.  Anyone can fall victim, it doesn’t matter if you are young or old.  My hope is that sharing this information that was passed on to me will save you from falling victim.

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“Utility Scam”

Another concerning scam is the “utility bill scam” which has become far reaching and popular.

This scam comes in the way of a phone call.  The individual on the other end claims to be a representative from a utility company or the like.  Electric, gas, or water, the scammers don’t discriminate against what type of utility they use as their bait, they just focus in on a utility that you have in your home.

There are a few different scams that fall into this category, but the scammers end goal is the same; to get your personal information, your identity, to get untraceable money, or to obtain banking account information to steal money.

One form of the scam is an individual calling and stating that “the company” has an offer to help you cut your utility bill.  These scammers often say it’s for your electric bill.  The caller says that they just need your utility account information to verify your account before they can proceed and there you have it; your confidential and personal information are now in their hands.

In another version of the scam, the caller may tell you that you have an extremely overdue bill.  They start threatening to disconnect services immediately and request payment at that time.  The unsuspecting individual will have offered up money they will never get back and possibly provided personal account information to scammers who will make withdrawals, over the next few days, well in excess of the “unpaid bill”.

A final version of the scam is the caller indicating that there are federal assistance programs that you qualify for.  Again, they pretend to be the utility company and indicate that they “just need you to verify your account information”.  They obtain your personal and share information with the hackers who can use it to steal your identity and money.

While many people are now aware of the IRS phone call scams, the Utility scams are less commonly known but are becoming more and more prevalent.  Just as with the other scams I have mentioned, the caller is either “selling you something too good to be true” or “pushing an urgent matter”.

For more on the utility scams, check out these Forbes and CBS articles.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwasik/2017/03/19/scam-alert-how-to-avoid-utility-fraud/#790220894459

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dont-get-financially-shocked-by-a-utility-scam/

As always, it’s better to be safe than sorry.  Never provide information to someone who is calling you unsolicited, and if you ever get an unsolicited call from a utility company, just hang up! You can call back their main line, and ask about the programs they are offering or if you have a late bill.

If you believe a loved one has been contacted by a scammer, contact the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office: (401) 274-4400 or consumers@riag.ri.gov

I’m going to take a break from posting on scams until I head back out to the South Kingstown Senior Center in Mid-October.

For now, stay safe and don’t hesitate to contact me if you have questions on these scams, or any other scams.

RISPCA-Paws in the Park Dog Walk

I'll be down at the RISPCA's (Rhode Island Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) 15th annual Paws in the Park, Dog Walk on Saturday, September 30.

FB Event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/158395031386927/?ti=icl

RISPCA website event link here: https://rispca.com/support/events/dog-walk/

I'll be setup so people can "ask the lawyer" about everything and anything related to animals.

I'll answer questions people have on topics like:

• Estate plans that arrange care and ownership for your four legged family members
• Creating a business (non-profit or for-profit) related to animals
• Wrongful death or injury to a pet
• Compassion animals

Mark your calendar. I hope to see you there.