Free and Easy Legacy Gifts

There are many types of legacy gifts that are simply a matter of filling out your provider’s paperwork. Here’s the list:

  • IRA or pension plan
  • Stocks and bonds
  • Checking account
  • Life insurance
  • Savings account

The key to setting up these gifts is contacting the institution that holds your asset. Ask them for a beneficiary form. Some firms refer to them as a designation form. Yet others as a “payment on death” form.

It’s important to remember that when you fill out the form, and you also have language in your will or living trust about the same asset, if there is a discrepancy the form takes precedence over the will or trust. This is because you have a contract with the firm, and that form fits within the scope of the contract. The will or trust does not.