Thank you for completing Birthright Israel Foundation’s Declaration of Intent and expressing your desire to help ensure the long-term continuity of the Birthright Israel program! The next step is to ensure that you modify your will/trust to put your expressed intent into practice. Please review the below recommendations as you make these changes:
1. Locate your original signed will or trust.
a. You may have a copy at home or your lawyer may have the original.
2. Read through it carefully. Be certain you understand all the provisions.
3. Identify the changes you would like to make to accurately express your intent to support Birthright Israel. Here are some questions to ask yourself:
a. Is Birthright Israel Foundation already listed as a beneficiary?
b. What sort of distribution are you intending for Birthright Israel Foundation?
i. Some examples include valuable tangible property (such as art), real estate, a fixed cash amount, or an amount stated as a percentage of the residuary of your estate.
c. Will your support to Birthright Israel Foundation be unrestricted or will it be targeted to a specific aspect of the Birthright Israel program?
i. To the extent you’d like to “target” or “restrict” your gift by attaching it to a specific program, please make sure that you coordinate this with Birthright Israel Foundation directly to ensure that it is possible to support the program you have in-mind.
d. Will your support be a one-time gift upon your death, or do you intend for your gift to create an endowment that will support Birthright Israel in perpetuity?
i. Please coordinate endowment gifts directly with Birthright Israel Foundation before adding them to your will to ensure that you understand what you will be able to support through your endowment.
e. If creating an endowment, do you want your endowment to be a part of the general Birthright Israel endowment, or do you intend for your endowment to create a named endowment in honor of a specific individual or family?
4. Consider some sample language recommendations based on how you’d like to structure your support:
a. I bequeath to The Birthright Israel Foundation, a tax-exempt New York not-for-profit corporation (FEIN: 13-4092050)…
i. the sum of ______ ($) dollars; or
ii. __ percent (_____%) of my (residuary) estate…
b. to be used for…
i. its general charitable purposes; or
ii. in support of (insert specific designation description).
5. Determine whether the changes can be made through a codicil to your will or through an amendment and restatement of your trust. Your attorney will be able to provide guidance on this.
6. Be certain to obtain the advice of your lawyer or estate planner before executing any documents.
a. Changes made by codicil to your will or amendment/restatement of your trust will generally be less expensive than re-writing the will or trust.
7. Once you have executed a codicil or amendment/restatement, or if you execute a new will or trust, be certain you keep the signed originals in a safe location. You may also want to notify your executors/trustees that you have updated your will or trust.
8. Consider entering into a gift agreement with Birthright Israel Foundation during your lifetime to formalize what your bequest will be used for and how it will be administered.
For assistance with the philanthropic provisions of your will or trust, feel free to contact Birthright Israel Foundation for a confidential discussion and some planning ideas. You can reach Ruvym Gilman, General Counsel, at (646) 833-1311 or plannedgiving@birthrightisrael.org.