Barbara G. Wells, PharmD. FASHP, FCCP
The CPNP Foundation has established a new Bequest Program, and we invite you to consider including the CPNP Foundation when planning your estate. These gifts secure the future of the Foundation and its mission to help meet the needs of individuals living with neuropsychiatric disorders, their families, and health professionals in general practice settings to further evidence-based treatment. Making a bequest is a simple process. A few sentences in your will or living trust make the gift complete, and until your will or trust goes into effect, you can easily alter your plans. Additionally, in some cases, depending on the nature and structure of the gift, tax advantages may be achieved.
Individuals who establish a planned giving arrangement to support the Foundation can automatically become members of the Foundation’s Legacy Partners Society, which is a program for honoring and thanking those who have arranged a bequest. As a Legacy Partner you become a part of a group of committed supporters who will be recognized in selected publications and venues with your permission, or members can choose to remain anonymous.
The CPNP Foundation is extremely fortunate to have many individuals who are generous in their support of the Foundation’s mission. Some of our donors are looking beyond annual cash gifts for other mechanisms to help them have even larger impact after their death. When structured properly your will, living trust, life insurance policies, and certain other vehicles can help you to achieve your philanthropic goals and may also provide several attractive benefits for you and for the foundations and charities you choose to benefit.
I was thrilled to learn of a few individuals who have already made arrangements in their wills for bequests to the Foundation or have plans to do so in the near future. I expect there are quite a few others with similar plans of whom I am unaware. I am thrilled to learn of these plans, as I know how important they can be in allowing the Foundation to achieve its mission. Probably the most important first step in making a planned gift after your death is to make a valid will and to be sure that it is regularly reviewed with your attorney and/or financial advisor. If you already have a valid will and wish to add a bequest to benefit the CPNP Foundation, you and your attorney can make that happen by adding a simple codicil or amendment.
There are several ways to give to the Foundation using life insurance, and perhaps the simplest way is to name the CPNP Foundation as your policy beneficiary in whole or as a percentage. Using this method, you retain control over the policy, including access to any cash value, in case your financial situation should change such that you needed it for living expenses. Another option is to donate an existing life insurance policy to the Foundation. Using this method, you may be able to take a charitable income tax deduction. In addition to these two options, there are others mechanisms to leverage the value of your donations to create the legacy you desire.
If you have already made arrangements in your will, living trust, or through another method (e.g., life insurance, pensions, IRAs, or 401(k)s for which you have named the Foundation as a beneficiary), please contact Brenda Schimenti (bschimenti@cpnpfoundation.org or 402.476.1677) to advise her accordingly. She will want to thank you and enroll you as a member of the Legacy Partners Society with your permission. The members of the Foundation Board of Directors encourage you to seek appropriate, independent, professional advice and counsel about the best way to structure any planned gift arrangement. Thank you for considering inclusion of the CPNP Foundation when planning your estate.