A gift through your will or trust or by beneficiary designation helps ensure the future of the Urban Institute’s work to identify evidence-based solutions for achieving equity, upward mobility, and racial justice in the decades ahead. Here’s how you can support Urban through your estate:
- Designate a portion of your estate to the Urban Institute by including a bequest provision in your will or revocable trust. You can designate a percentage of the value of your estate, a specific dollar amount, or the remainder of your estate after other bequests, debts, and taxes have been fulfilled. You can also name Urban as a contingent beneficiary, where Urban receives the gift only in the event that a spouse, family member, or other primary beneficiary does not survive you.
- If you want to amend an existing will or trust to include Urban, you can do so with a simple codicil.
- If you want to restrict the use of your bequest to a specific policy center or research area, please contact the Development Office by email or by calling 202-261-5657 to ensure your wishes can be met. Unrestricted gifts will be used to support Urban’s top priorities at the time they are received.
- Inform Urban of your commitment, which helps for planning and ensures your wishes are fulfilled.
- Urban receives the gift after your lifetime and applies it to one or more high priorities of our choosing (if the gift is unrestricted) or to the purpose(s) that you specified.
- The distribution of your gift is fully deductible for federal estate tax purposes and is usually exempt from state inheritance taxes.
Sample gift language
You can use the following language to include the Urban Institute in your will or trust. This sample language does not constitute legal advice. You may want to contact a qualified attorney licensed in your state to ensure that the sample language meets your state’s legal requirements. If you wish to restrict your bequest to a specific policy center or research area, please contact the Development Office by email or by calling 202-261-5657 for additional guidance.
Percentage gift
This gift allows you to give a percentage of the value of your estate.
“I give and devise to the Urban Institute located in Washington, DC, (Tax ID #52-0880375) an amount equal to____ percent of the net value of my estate to be used for its general purposes.”
Specific gift
This gift allows you to give a specified dollar amount.
“I give and devise to the Urban Institute located in Washington, DC, (Tax ID #52-0880375) the sum of $ ____ to be used for its general purposes.”
Residual gift
This gift allows you to give what remains of your estate/trust after specific gifts are fulfilled.
“I give the rest and residue of my estate to the Urban Institute in Washington, DC, (Tax ID #52-0880375), to be used for its general purposes.”
You designate a particular asset or a percentage of your estate to TNC by including a bequest provision in your will or revocable trust. You can do this while creating your will or trust, or you can amend an existing one with a simple document. The Conservancy can be either a primary or a contingent beneficiary.
Contingent gift
This gift leaves Urban a stated share of your estate, only if a spouse, family member or other beneficiary does not survive you.
“If [insert name] is not living at the time of my demise, I give and devise to the Urban Institute, located in Washington, DC, (Tax ID #52-0880375), the sum of $____ (or all or a percentage of the residue of my estate) to be used for its general purposes.”
Sample beneficiary designation
To designate the Urban Institute as a beneficiary of a qualified retirement plan, life insurance policy, or other financial account, please use the following information:
Urban Institute
500 L’Enfant Plaza SW
Washington, DC 20024
Tax ID #:52-0880375
For questions about the above, please contact the Development Office by email or by calling 202-261-5657.
Disclaimer: Please have your will or trust drafted by an attorney who is familiar with the estate laws of the state where you live. We are not engaged in legal or tax advisory services. The purpose of this document is to provide general gift, estate, and financial planning information. Watch for tax revisions. State laws govern wills, trusts, and charitable gifts made in a contractual agreement. Advice from legal counsel should be sought when considering these types of gifts.