THEIR LEGACY AND YOURS
FSHA profoundly shaped Nora ‘12, nurturing curiosity, and confidence. Including FSHA in my estate plans is my way of helping ensure this extraordinary community continues to flourish for generations to come. or nearly 100 years, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy has empowered young women to discover their passion, deepen their faith, and rise as leaders grounded in Veritas. Our mission continues because generations of families, alumnae, and friends invest in the future of FSHA. A legacy gift strengthens the foundation of Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy and ensures that young women continue to receive a transformative education rooted in faith, integrity, and truth.
Colleen Welsh, Board Member, Nora ‘12
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Shoshana Puccia, director of advancement, would be pleased to assist you in finding giving strategies that will fulfill your personal, family, and charitable goals. You may contact her at 626.685.8550 or spuccia@fsha.org.
Legal Name: Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy
Address:
440 St. Katherine Drive
La Cañada Flintridge, California 91011
Taxpayer Identification Number: 95-0739610
To learn more about our planned giving program, please visit our website at fsha.org/plannedgiving.
THE MOTHER DOLOROSA SOCIETY
Mother Dolorosa was one of the three founding Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose who started Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy in 1931. Her leadership helped FSHA grow in ways no one could have imagined when she and her fellow Sisters traveled up the Hill with “a statue of the Blessed Virgin, a $5 bill, and their faith.” We are honored to name our planned giving society after her.
The Mother Dolorosa Society celebrates the alumnae, parents, grandparents, and friends who have remembered Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy in their estate plans. Like Mother Dolorosa, the society members have made a lasting contribution to the mission of FSHA and generations of young women.
As you plan for your legacy, please remember FSHA and join the Mother Dolorosa Society. Becoming a member is easy: simply notify FSHA about your gift intentions. There is no minimum gift amount, and while disclosing the amount of a gift helps the school in its long-range plan, it is not required.
Membership is permanent and continues on a yearly basis as long as the gift remains in effect. Society members are recognized in FSHA’s Annual Report on Philanthropy and are invited to special events.
Your membership involves no dues, obligations, or solicitations. It simply allows us to thank you and recognize you for the plans you have made. We hope your story and foresight will inspire generosity in others.
The most important benefit of becoming a member of the Society is the satisfaction of knowing your gift will impact the future of FSHA and generations of young women.
PLANNING AND GIVING
Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy has received a historic $5 Million gift from the estate of alumna Janet Hart Mitchell, Class of 1948. This extraordinary gift established The Stella and Louis Hart Scholarship Endowment Fund, providing financial aid for students and allowing them to benefit from the values-based education that Mitchell so deeply cherished.
As you consider how to direct your estate, we invite you to include FSHA in your plans. You can structure an estate plan to:
• Take care of the financial needs of your family first.
• Provide inheritances for your heirs at a lower tax cost.
• Reduce your income tax and even avoid capital gains taxes.
• Diversify your investment portfolio.
• Increase income and effective rate of return.
• Leave a legacy without giving up assets.
• Make a larger charitable gift than you thought possible.
An effective estate plan ably serves your personal, financial, and philanthropic goals.
MAKING A GIFT TODAY
Planned gifts may be unrestricted or designated for a specific purpose. To be effective, your estate planning document simply needs to refer to Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy by name. If you wish for the gift to be directed to a program or project then that should also be stated.
Flintridge Fund
At Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, tuition sustains us, but the Flintridge Fund elevates us. It is through your generosity that we move from Excellent to Extraordinary. Your gift breathes life into the spaces where young women grow into scholars, artists, athletes, scientists, and servant leaders.
To make a gift to the Flintridge Fund, please visit our website at www.fsha.org or contact Natalie Lei, director of annual giving at 626.685.8395 or nlei@fsha.org.
Endowment
Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy’s Endowment is a cornerstone of the school’s long-term financial stability. Endowment gifts support three mission-aligned priorities:
Tuition Assistance
Ensures that the tuition assistance program remains broad and mission-driven serving families throughout our community.
Faculty & Staff
Supports the recruitment, retention, and professional development of exceptional faculty and staff.
Academic & Co-Curricular Programs
Provides resources for innovative curriculum and enriching programs that inspire curiosity and excellence.
Why have an estate plan?
“Janet Hart Mitchell’s donation honors the community and values that shaped her life, and as we look to the future, it will continue to open doors for students who share her passion for learning,” said Amanda Perez ‘14, Alumnae Association President.
At Flintridge Sacred Heart, gifts like Janet’s remind us how thoughtful planning can shape opportunities for generations of young women. Everyone should have an estate plan that specifies how your assets, no matter what their value, will be managed both at death and in the event of incapacity during life.
What makes an effective estate plan?
An estate plan is effective when it:
• Minimizes estate and other taxes, probate, and other costs.
• Reflects your life and values, ensuring that specified items or portions of your estate are passed on to the people you love, and/or are given to support charitable organizations or causes in which you strongly believe.
Gift planning at every life stage
Under 40
Your life feels newly super-sized with career responsibilities surging and, perhaps, a young family in the nest. You’re focused on the present, but what would happen to your loved ones if they were faced with your sudden death? Protect the people and causes you love with your first estate plan.
Ages 40-54
With growing children, aging parents and a busy schedule, estate and financial planning can be a challenge. Get your plans in order to protect your family and support your favorite causes.
Ages 55 - 69
Retirement is just around the corner—or here! Take steps now to make sure you can thoroughly enjoy the extra time you’ll have to travel and perhaps spend time with your children and grandchildren. Ages 70 and above
Your allegiance to your favorite causes can still flourish during your retirement years. Check your estate plan to make sure the organizations you have supported throughout your lifetime benefit from your lasting legacy.
How do I create an estate plan?
Estate plans are most often prepared under the guidance of an attorney who specializes in the estates and trusts field. Your estate planner will meet with you to discuss your assets, your family, other intended beneficiaries and your financial and philanthropic desires. If you have other financial and tax advisors, it is likely that they will also be consulted during the formation and implementation of your plan. Ultimately, you and your estate planner put in place a comprehensive plan that reflects your life and values while meeting your long-term goals.
As you review your estate plan with your estate planning professional, keep the following fundamental questions in mind:
• How much of my assets do I want to give to family and friends?
• When do I want to give these assets to my family and friends?
• How can I continue to support FSHA after I am gone?
What’s in your estate?
Have you ever wondered which assets are considered to be part of your estate? Your estate includes all your property, real or personal, tangible or intangible, wherever situated. The assets counted include, but are not limited to:
• Real property
• Tangible personal property;
• Insurance policies owned by you;
• Retirement plans—IRA, 401(k), 403(b), etc.;
• Bank accounts;
• Stocks and mutual funds.
Gift Designation Information
If you wish to designate the school as the beneficiary of your life insurance policy, individual retirement account, qualified retirement plan benefit, brokerage account, bank account, certificate of deposit, annuity or other asset, please identify the school on the beneficiary form by using the following name and address:
Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy
440 St. Katherine Drive, La Cañada Flintridge, CA 91011
Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy is a qualified charitable organization and meets the standards and requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)3. Under this provision, all contributions are deductible for federal income tax purposes (subject to statutory limitations) and for federal estate and gift tax purposes.
How do you transfer assets?
No matter what their value, your assets need to be transferred at your death to the individuals and/or institutions you choose. There are a number of different methods for this transfer. Most commonly, assets are transferred according to the terms of a will. At your death, the will is probated in the county in which you lived, and the probate court supervises the administration and distribution of your assets.
Alternatively, if you have transferred assets to a revocable living trust during your lifetime, then, at your death, the assets in the trust are distributed by the trustee according to the terms of the trust, usually without court supervision and the added costs and delay of probate. Additionally, some assets such as insurance policies and qualified retirement plans—IRA, 401(k), 403(b), etc.—are governed by contractual arrangements and are distributed at your death according to the beneficiary designations that you made during your lifetime. Finally, how property is held can determine how the property will pass at your death. For example, if property is held in joint tenancy with a right of survivorship, then, at your death, that property passes to the other joint tenants.
WAYS TO GIVE
You should carefully discuss with your own advisors your intention to charitably support Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy.
Bequests
Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy has been the recipient of bequests, both large and small, from alumnae and friends over the years. Bequests often come in the form of specified amounts of cash or other property, a percentage of the overall estate or all, or a portion of the residue (“what’s left” after specific bequests have been fulfilled) and may be made by adding a codicil to an existing will. You may use a will in combination with, or to create, the plans of giving described below. Living trusts may also be used in this manner.
I wanted to participate in the worthy goal of educating young women. Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy just always kept coming back to me. Something has to sing to me and this just felt right.
Barbara Marshall, Former Board of Director