A Bequest
Ensuring Tomorrow Today
Over 50% of all college graduates in the United States die without having made a will, and many more make wills but forget to have them updated. A will guarantees that your estate is administered by an executor of your choice who will distribute your assets according to your wishes.
A well-drafted will can save taxes and reduce probate costs. Most importantly, it will protect members of your family (a spouse, children, dependent parents), allow you to remember dear friends, and assist the charity or charities of your choice.
Without a will, your assets will be distributed according to the laws of the state in which you live. None of your estate will go to charity, and your intentions will not be considered.
When to Update Your Will
Update your will when major changes occur in your life. For example, you will want to re-examine your will when:
- there is a change in the make-up of your family (marriage, divorce, additional children, death);
- there is a substantial change in the nature or amount of your assets;
- there is a change in job or business;
- there is a change in the laws affecting your will or you change your residence to a different state with laws affecting your will;
- there is a change in priorities and/or interest.
A Bequest to Saint Joseph College
There are several ways to make a bequest to Saint Joseph College. For example, you can leave the College a specific dollar amount, a percentage of your estate, the residual of the estate after you have provided for those close to you, or a portion of the residual. You can name Saint Joseph College as the contingent beneficiary in your will-meaning that the College will receive money only if the other beneficiaries in your will die before you. You may name Saint Joseph College as the beneficiary of the assets of a trust transferable to the College at the death of the beneficiary.
Restricting Your Charitable Bequest
Bequests made to Saint Joseph College are added to the College's general endowment or applied to the most pressing current needs of the College unless otherwise specified in a will. Donors who wish to do so may direct their gifts to areas which reflect their interests and values (for example, scholarships, library materials, or a department, division, or school). Information about the various programs at Saint Joseph College and areas of long-term financial need can be obtained from the College's Office of Institutional Advancement 860.231.5291.
Suggested Wording to Make a Bequest to Saint Joseph College
The unconditional bequest…
"I hereby give, devise, and bequeath to Saint Joseph College, 1678 Asylum Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06117 ______percent of the rest, residue and remainder of my property, real and personal, (or the sum of $_________or other appropriately described property to be paid out of the real or personal property) owned by me at my death to be used for the educational purposes of Saint Joseph College."
The contingent bequest…
"...If any of the above-named beneficiaries should predecease me, then I give, devise, and bequeath the property, real or personal, which said beneficiary or beneficiaries would have received if they had survived me, to Saint Joseph College, 1678 Asylum Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06117 to be used for the educational purposes of Saint Joseph College."
The bequest of residue…
"I give, devise, and bequeath to Saint Joseph College, 1678 Asylum Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06117 all the rest of my property, real and personal, to be used for the educational purposes of Saint Joseph College."
The specific purpose bequest…
"I give and bequeath to Saint Joseph College, 1678 Asylum Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06117 the sum of $_____to establish the _________________ Fund, the net income of which is to be used for ______________________. If at some future date, in the opinion of the Board of Trustees of the College, the income from this fund is no longer needed for the aforementioned purposes, then the Board is authorized to use said income and principal for the educational purposes of the College."
For further information contact:
Mary Kate Cox, Vice President of Institutional Advancement
Office of Institutional Advancement
Saint Joseph College
1678 Asylum Avenue
West Hartford, CT 06117
Phone: 860.231.5206
Fax: 860.231.6774
E-mail: mkcox@sjc.edu
