Gifts by Will

One of the most popular and easiest ways to support the good work of our community at UUCCH is to remember our congregation in your will. Although the legacies you typically read about are grand in scope, most people who leave assets to charitable organizations through their wills are of modest means. Here are some future and ongoing needs that your donation could support:

· Expand and enhance Church programs or initiatives

· Continue to maintain or build facilities

· Ensure the future of our Church

Completing Your Gift

So how do you remember us in your will? While planning or updating your will, simply tell your attorney that you want to leave something for our congregation. A common practice when including a bequest in your estate is to leave a percentage, rather than a fixed amount, to us. That way, your bequest to the congregation remains in proportion to other bequests.

Consider yourself invited to join the UUCCH Legacy Society by letting us know that you have included a gift to the Church in your estate plans. Your example may encourage others to join suit and provide for the future of our liberal religion. For more information about our Legacy Society, send an email to uucch.plannedgiving@gmail.com.

Charitable Tax Status
The Church is an IRS-qualified 501(c)(3) and 170(c) charitable religious organization. Copies of our tax-exempt status letters are available upon request, as is a completed IRS Form W-9 Request for Taxpayer Identification. The UUCCH’s tax-exempt federal identification number is 22-6066010. For estate tax purposes, bequests, legacies, devises, or transfers to the Church are deductible as they accord with the provision of the Internal Revenue Code Section 2055(a) and related regulations.

Types of Bequests
Making a gift by will is easy. Here is some basic information about different kinds of estate gifts, including sample language you may use in your legal documents. Most of this information also may be used to make a gift through a family trust, a life insurance policy, or an individual retirement account.

Like other sorts of gifts, bequests can be given for general or specific purposes and uses. UUCCH especially appreciates bequests made without restrictions because they are added to the permanent unrestricted endowment, providing general support that may last forever. Bequests are made in the following ways:

Specific Bequest
You may give all or a specific percentage of your total estate, or a specific asset or collection of assets in the form of cash, securities, or other property. Retirement plan benefits, IRAs, savings bonds, and other items known as “income with respect to a decedent” (IRD) are particularly tax effective gifts to charity. You may designate an amount or a percentage of the property.

Residuary Bequest
You may give all or a percentage of what remains of your estate after all specific bequests have been satisfied and debts and expenses have been paid. You may specify that charitable gifts be fulfilled first with IRD assets to the extent needed to reduce your tentative estate tax.

Contingent Bequest
You may give all or a portion of your estate in the event that a named beneficiary is not alive when you die. This type of bequest can avoid costly litigation or prevent property from reverting to the state for lack of heirs.

Suggested Bequest Language

Please share the following suggested bequest language with your attorney to assist in drafting a will or codicil that will achieve your charitable estate plans.

Restricted Bequest to the Permanent Endowment
I give _____ [$ amount, description of property, or % of estate] to the Unrestricted Endowment Fund of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Cherry Hill, a New Jersey charitable corporation located at 401 N. Kings Highway, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, to be invested according to the policies adopted by its Board of Trustees, income only to be used for the general purposes of the Church .

Residuary Bequest
I give all of my remaining assets of any kind to the Unrestricted Endowment Fund of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Cherry Hill, a New Jersey charitable corporation located at 401 N. Kings Highway, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, for its unrestricted use.

Contingent Bequest
I give all of my remaining assets of any kind to the Unrestricted Endowment Fund of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Cherry Hill, a New Jersey charitable corporation located at 401 N. Kings Highway, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, for its unrestricted use in the event that a named beneficiary does not survive me.

We would be delighted to talk with you and your advisor to help you determine how you may structure a gift that best suits your needs. For more information, contact info@uucch.org