Legacy Giving

Create your Cornerstone Montgomery Legacy

The following are ways you can create your legacy with Cornerstone Montgomery

Gift in Your Will or Trust

A gift in your will or trust is one of the easiest and most flexible ways you can remember Cornerstone Montgomery in your estate. With the help of an attorney or tax advisor, you can:

Give a specific dollar amount or asset
Give a percentage of your estate
Give the balance (or residue) of your estate
Make a beneficiary designation of certain assets

Suggested language you can include in your will or trust:

A fixed amount of money or a designated property
“I give to Cornerstone Montgomery, tax identification number 52-0937199, located at 2 Taft Court Suite 200, Rockville, Maryland 20850, $_________ (or describe the real or personal property, including exact location.)”
A percentage of the estate
“I give to Cornerstone Montgomery, tax identification number 52-0937199, located at 2 Taft Court Suite 200, Rockville, Maryland 20850, ________% of my estate.”
A residual bequest:
“I give all the residue of my estate, including real and personal property to Cornerstone Montgomery, tax identification number 52-0937199, located at 2 Taft Court Suite 200, Rockville, Maryland 20850.”
Beneficiary Designation in IRA, Retirement Plan or Insurance Plan
“$____ or ____% to Cornerstone Montgomery, tax identification number 52-0937199, located at 2 Taft Court Suite 200, Rockville, Maryland 20850.”

Estate gifts and beneficiary designations can be dedicated toward a specific purpose or may be unrestricted for general use by Cornerstone Montgomery. To have your gift applied to a specific program, please add “…for the benefit of (name of program)” to the language suggested above.

Retirement Assets

Retirement assets can be donated to Cornerstone Montgomery. These funds grow tax-free, until the time of withdrawal. Here’s how you can to contribute to Cornerstone Montgomery and provide for your loved ones using these assets:

Name Cornerstone Montgomery as the beneficiary or contingent beneficiary of your retirement assets after your lifetime.

When a retirement account is left to a charity, the organization does not pay any income tax whereas your heirs may pay income tax if they inherit your retirement funds.

Your retirement plan’s administrator can provide a beneficiary form for you to name Cornerstone Montgomery as your partial or sole beneficiary.

For those aged 70½ or older, a total of up to $100,000 can be transferred directly from traditional or Roth IRAs to Cornerstone Montgomery free from federal income tax each year. There may also be state income tax savings. Amounts given in this way count toward required IRA minimum withdrawal amounts for the year of the gift.

To make a gift in this way, it is important to not withdraw funds prior to a gift, but have the gift amount distributed directly from an IRA to one or more qualified charities.

For those with check writing privileges on their accounts, this may be the most efficient way to make gifts directly from an IRA.

Name a trust as the beneficiary of excess or unused retirement assets. After your lifetime, the trust can provide income to heirs for a period of years, after which time the trust monies can fund your charitable gift.

Since it is a charitable trust, there can be more money available to generate income for heirs.

Life Insurance

There are a number of ways to support Cornerstone Montgomery with an insurance-related gift.

Add a beneficiary to your policy
You can make a change to the beneficiary/beneficiaries of your insurance policy without changing your will or other aspects of your estate plan. Ask your insurance company for a form that will allow you to make Cornerstone Montgomery a beneficiary of your insurance policy.
Give a paid-up policy
You can transfer ownership of a paid-up life insurance policy to Cornerstone Montgomery. After the transfer, Cornerstone Montgomery can elect to either cash in the policy or keep the policy and receive the benefit later. You would receive an immediate income tax deduction for either the cash surrender value or the basis (usually the cost), whichever is less.
Making Cornerstone Montgomery the owner and beneficiary
You can take out a policy and make Cornerstone Montgomery the owner and beneficiary. Premium payments can be made by you directly to the insurance company or by Cornerstone Montgomery, by way of your annual gift to the organization. You can take an income tax deduction for the premiums paid.

Charitable Remainder Trust

A Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT) provides you and your beneficiaries with a stream of income for life or for a period of years. At the end of the trust, the principal, or “remainder interest,” goes to Cornerstone Montgomery. Unlike other life-income arrangements, CRTs are separately invested and managed trusts. Please note that Cornerstone Montgomery does not manage these trusts for donors.

This is a powerful way for you to benefit along with your heirs and Cornerstone Montgomery. You can choose to receive a variable or fixed income (beginning immediately) for life or a term of years. There is no limitation on the number of beneficiaries of a CRT.

CDs and Other Banking Accounts

You can create your Cornerstone Montgomery legacy by making Cornerstone Montgomery the beneficiary of a certificate of deposit (or any bank or brokerage account). Your financial institution can help you with this easy process.

U.S. Savings Bonds

Although it is not possible to make a charitable gift of a savings bond without first paying the tax on the interest earned, it does make a great asset to contribute. After your lifetime, the interest accumulated by the savings bonds is taxed before your heirs inherit them. However, if they are left to a charitable organization, like Cornerstone Montgomery, that tax is not due. Ask your attorney or tax advisor about the best way to gift your savings bonds to Cornerstone Montgomery.

Gifts of Stock or Securities

A gift of appreciated securities, including stocks or bonds, is an easy way for you to make a gift. You may avoid paying capital gains tax and receive a charitable tax deduction while furthering the Cornerstone Montgomery’s mission. It’s easy to make your gift by electronic transfer. Find transfer instructions here.

For more information, please contact Chris Brandt, Chief Development Officer 240-614-4266 or Chris.Brandt@CornerstoneMontgomery.org.

The information on this website is not intended as legal or tax advice. Always consult an attorney or tax advisor when planning your estate.

The Cornerstone Montgomery Legacy Society

The Cornerstone Montgomery Legacy Society recognizes those who have remembered Cornerstone Montgomery with a gift in their estate. Benefits of membership include:

Certificate of appreciation
Listing in the Gratitude Report (If you would like to be anonymous, please let us know.)
Invitation to Cornerstone Montgomery special events

You are under no obligation to do so, but we hope you will let us know if you have included Cornerstone Montgomery in your estate. Informing us of your intention helps to ensure that we can honor your wishes.

If you have not yet included Cornerstone Montgomery in your plans and would like to explore options for you and your family, please contact us. We would be glad to assist you.

Please contact Chris Brandt, Chief Development Officer at 240-614-4266 or Chris.Brandt@CornerstoneMontgomery.org.