By Annalise Smith, Chief Philanthropy Officer, Avow Foundation, Inc.
I can still see the anxiety on the faces of the family gathered in room 3 North of our hospice house: their beloved friend and brother was dying without a will. During his career as a professor, he had built an enviable reputation and a small fortune, as well as a collection of valuable artwork and antiques. But because he had not completed an estate plan, his family did not know what to do with the assets he would leave behind. They had no legal power to make decisions for him – they could not pay his bills, sell or give away his possessions, or make gifts on his behalf to the charities that reflected his interests and values. At a time when his family was frozen with grief, they were also frozen legally, unable to speak for our patient when he could not speak for himself.
August is National Make A Will Month, a time for all of us consider how we want our assets to be distributed after we have passed. Wills are an important part of a comprehensive estate plan, which may include instructions on who should take custody of dependents and pets, who can step in to pay our bills when we can’t, and how we choose to be cared for at end of life. At Avow Foundation, we call this a “peace of mind plan” because it relieves both the drafter and his or her heirs from worry about end-of-life issues that otherwise could be overwhelming, complex, and/or expensive to resolve.
All our work at Avow Foundation, in fact, is about peace of mind. We help community members understand how a will and estate plan can help them use their assets after their passing to support the people and the causes they love. While we are not attorneys, we can give general guidelines about how various estate planning tools can help community members avoid taxes or probate court and protect their assets through charitable gifts. This free guidance can be helpful for those new to estate planning or those who don’t know quite where to start. We also offer planned giving information on our website at https://avowcares.giftplans.org/.
Avow Foundation also helps people learn how to make charitable gifts that reflect their values – and that are used appropriately by the recipients. For most of us, a donation to a charity is a deep beat of our hearts: it is the life force that pushes who we are – and all the sacrifices we have made in our lifetimes – into the causes we love long after we are gone. We deserve to know that our gifts will be cherished and used in the ways we intend. Does a charity you like have a solid program to reach out regularly to its donors, for example? Does it welcome visits, report how donor gifts are used, and show the meaningful impacts they are making for their cause? Does it have a special membership group like Avow’s Living Legacy Society to recognize those who make a planned gift? Does the charity have top-quality ratings for its transparency on websites such as GuideStar? Does it work cooperatively with its local community foundation?
We understand that it’s easy to put off making a will or estate plan to “later” or “after” some future event in your life. Unfortunately, too many people like the patient described previously suffer an unexpected illness or disability that derails their lives and leaves loved ones unprepared to step in to help.
To help you get started, and in recognition of National Make A Will Month, Avow Foundation invites you to a free, no-obligation lunch and learn featuring attorney George Wilson of Wilson & Johnson, estate attorneys serving Southwest Florida families. Mr. Wilson will present “How to Avoid a Probate Administration! Keep Life Simple for Your Family” on Tuesday, August 30, 2022 from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm in the Ispiri community center on Avow campus in Naples. The address is 1095 Whippoorwill Lane (off Pine Ridge Road just west of the I-75 overpass). To reserve your seat, send a message to foundation@avowcares.org or call (239) 280-2288.
Additionally, you can join us Friday, September 16, 2022, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for a free lunch and learn presentation in Ispiri on Five Wishes, an easy-to-use advance directive document written in everyday language that will be distributed, along with helpful information about the resource. You can reserve your spot for this event by emailing mark.beland@avowcares.org or calling (239) 280-2288.
We also welcome your questions about Avow Foundation and our work in the community. We are privileged to be one of the rare charities in Southwest Florida that has the potential to benefit every person, regardless of age or any other measure. To learn more about Avow, visit www.avowcares.org. Click on the “Ways to Give” or “Planned Giving” options in the menu for more information about Avow Foundation.
You can always reach us by phone at (239) 649-3683 or by email at foundation@avowcares.org.
AVOW
239.280.2288
www.avowcares.org