Legacy Giving

As part of the estate planning process, you can designate a beneficiary who will receive a portion of your assets as outlined in your will. This designation allows for the transfer of various assets, including but not limited to cash, securities, real estate, or personal property, according to your estate plans.

How can I include Shepherd Center in my will or estate plans?

1. Designate a particular asset or a percentage of your estate to Shepherd Center by including a bequest provision in your will or revocable trust. You can do this while creating your will or trust or amend an existing one with a simple document. Shepherd Center can be either a primary or a contingent beneficiary
2. Unless you specify otherwise, your gift will be used to support our top priorities. If you wish to designate your gift to a particular program, please email or call Alan Hunn for assistance developing the language and to ensure that we can honor your wishes.
3. Inform Shepherd Center of your commitment, which helps with planning and ensures your wishes can be fulfilled.
4. Shepherd Center receives the gift after your lifetime and applies it to the purpose(s) you specified. Unrestricted charitable gifts are used to support top priorities.
5. Your distribution is fully deductible for federal estate tax purposes, and there is no limit on the deduction your estate can claim. In addition, the gift is usually exempt from state inheritance taxes.

Legal Language and Tax ID

If you wish to name Shepherd Center in your will or estate plan, we should be named as:
The SHEPHERD CENTER FOUNDATION, INC, a non-profit corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Georgia, and located in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia.

Our tax identification number is EIN #20-1238224.

If you have included Shepherd Center in your estate plans, email or call Alan Hunn at [email protected] or 404-350-7778. We would like to thank you for your generous commitment to the future of Shepherd Center and welcome you to J. Harold Shepherd Bridge Builders Society.

Sample Language for Bequests Under Will

For your convenience, below, please find the language for making gifts by will to the Shepherd Center Foundation. These are merely suggestions and do not constitute legal, tax, or investment advice. Rather, they are intended as a guide to assist you for planning purposes. Your attorney will draft the exact language for incorporation in your will or codicil. Moreover, the execution (signing) of said document requires a high level of legal formality and, therefore, should be done at the direction and under the supervision of a professional.

Outright Bequest of a Percentage of Estate or a Specific Sum of Money

“I give, devise, and bequeath to the SHEPHERD CENTER FOUNDATION, INC. (EIN #20-1238224), a non-profit corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Georgia, and located in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, (% of my estate or specific $ amount), to be added to the ___________ program (or to be unrestricted).” 

Bequest of Residuary Estate: A Plan for Anything Left After Other Requests

“All the rest, residue, and remainder of my estate, both real and personal property of whatever kind and wherever situated, which I may own at the time of my death, I give, devise, and bequeath to the SHEPHERD CENTER FOUNDATION, INC. (EIN #20-1238224), a non-profit corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Georgia, and located in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, to be added to the ___________ program (or to be unrestricted).”

Codicil to Last Will and Testament: A Plan to Change an Existing Will

“I, JOHN DOE, hereby modify and amend my Last Will and Testament, executed on the __________ day of __________________, in the year _______, (hereinafter “my Will”), by adding the following bequest: 

“I give, devise, and bequeath to the SHEPHERD CENTER FOUNDATION, INC. (EIN #20-1238224), a non-profit corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Georgia, and located in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, the sum of                              ( $ amount )                 to be added to the ___________ program (or to be unrestricted).”  I also hereby make, reaffirm and republish all of the terms and provisions of my Will not in conflict with this codicil.” 

Leave a lasting legacy by making Shepherd Center a full or partial beneficiary of your IRA, 401(k), or other qualified retirement plan. Your financial advisor and Shepherd Center’s gift planning professionals can help you determine whether income from a gift plan or withdrawals from your retirement account would most benefit your heirs.

How can I designate Shepherd Center as a beneficiary of my retirement plan?

1. Complete a beneficiary designation form, ensuring assets will not be included in your taxable estate. An extra step may be required to designate a 401(k).
2. After your lifetime, the residue of your plan passes to Shepherd Center tax-free and any other named heirs.

You can name Shepherd Center as your life insurance policy’s primary or contingent beneficiary should your other beneficiaries not survive you.

Please note: You can also irrevocably donate your paid-up life insurance policy. Please email or call Alan Hunn directly about making this type of gift.

How do I name Shepherd Center as a beneficiary of my life insurance policy?

1. Provide now for a future gift by naming Shepherd Center as the beneficiary of a policy insuring your life.
2. At death, the benefits from your policy pass to Shepherd Center free of federal estate tax and are applied to the program designated by the donor.

A charitable gift annuity with Shepherd Center is a gift that gives back. It can provide you and/or another beneficiary with a stable income for life. You may also receive an immediate income tax deduction.

How does a charitable gift annuity work?

1. You create an annuity by irrevocably transferring $100,000 or more in cash, securities, or other property to Shepherd Center.
2. You receive fixed annual payments for life at a very attractive rate based on the age of the beneficiaries.
3. You can begin receiving payments immediately (if you are 50 or older) or defer payments for a year or more. The older you are when your payments begin, the higher your rate.
4. You are eligible for an immediate tax deduction. If you donate appreciated assets, you may save on capital gains taxes as well.
5. The principal passes to Shepherd Center after the lifetime of the income beneficiaries.