A planned gift is a gift that is made today and that may not fully mature or be realized until a future date. Planned gifts are an excellent way to leave a legacy of helping those in need achieve strength, stability and self-reliance through homeownership.

Examples of such planned gifts include gifts made through charitable remainder trusts; revocable living trusts; beneficiary designations from any financial asset that has a payable on death designation (like life insurance); bequests (money left to an organization through a will); stock; individual retirement accounts; and real estate. Planned gifts represent some of the largest gifts an organization may receive and are a reliable future funding source.

UVHFH accepts planned gifts in the form of bequests, beneficiary designations, stock and real estate. We recommend consulting your tax advisor and lawyer to determine which planned giving strategy is best for you.

You can leave a gift to Upper Valley Habitat by listing us in your will or estate plan. Making a legacy gift in your will or trust is one of the easiest and most popular ways to partner in and support our mission. Donors gifting by bequest can specify a particular dollar amount or percentage of estate be granted to an organization. Donors may also choose to bequeath real estate or specific gifts-in-kind such as collections, art, vehicles, or jewelry to an organization. We also accept contingent bequests, which is a gift that is originally intended for other beneficiaries, but in the event of their prior passing, is redirected as a charitable donation.

The following language may help you and your attorney when drawing up a bequest that meets your needs.

General Bequest: To leave a gift in your will, simply share this sentence with your attorney or financial planner:

“After taking care of all expenses, debts and other provisions, I bequeath $_____ or _____% of my estate to Upper Valley Habitat for Humanity, a Vermont-based charitable organization [Tax ID# 03-0306081 ] currently with administrative offices at 5 South Main Street, #307, White River Junction, VT 05001.”

Specific Bequest: If you intend to make an outright bequest for a specific purpose, such as to support a specific project or program:

“I, [name], of [city, state, ZIP], give, devise and bequeath to Upper Valley Habitat for Humanity [written amount or percentage of the estate or description of property] for its charitable purposes, including but not limited to ___________ use and purpose.”

Contingency Bequest: If you wish to make a contingency gift so that Habitat for Humanity will receive a portion of your estate if your named beneficiary does not survive you:

“If any of the beneficiaries named in this will should die before becoming entitled to receive their distributive share of my estate, I direct my trustee to pay or transfer the share to which such beneficiary would otherwise be entitled, to Upper Valley Habitat for Humanity for its unrestricted use and purpose.”

If at any point in time and for any reason, you wish to make changes to include UVHFH in your will, you can easily amend it by using a Codicil. A codicil is a document your attorney can prepare to amend your will or trust without rewriting the entire document. The codicil adds a new gift to UVHFH while reaffirming the other terms of your will.

In order for you to list UVHFH as a beneficiary on an asset account such as life insurance or individual retirement account, you will need our legal name and Tax ID number. Using these two pieces of information, you can make a lasting impact by naming UVHFH as a beneficiary on your account by updating your beneficiary information with your provider. Our legal name is Upper Valley Habitat for Humanity and our Tax ID number is 03-0306081.