As you consider Estate Planning, a life income gift or naming the Avalon as even a partial beneficiary of your retirement plan or life insurance policy can significantly benefit the theater.

Bequests

The most common form of planned gift to support the Avalon Theatre is a bequest contained in your will or revocable (“living”) trust. The following language, for review by you and your attorney, is an example of how a bequest to benefit the Avalon may be worded:

“I give, devise and bequeath to the Avalon Theatre, a qualified 501(c)(3) charitable organization located in Washington, DC, _____ percent of my residual estate [or a specific bequest of $__________, or other personal or real property appropriately described] to be used in accordance with the written directive I have signed that provides instructions for the use of this gift and, if none exists, for unrestricted use at the Avalon Theatre.”

Gifts of Retirement Plan Assets

For many Americans, retirement plans such as IRAs and 401(k)’s represent a significant portion of net worth. Yet these plans are generally not given favorable tax treatment upon the death of their owner. In fact, such assets may be subject to both estate tax and income tax, which can greatly reduce their value to heirs.

Naming the Avalon Theatre as a primary or contingent beneficiary of a retirement plan may significantly reduce the taxes owed on such plans at death because the portion of the plan left to the Avalon can receive an estate tax deduction. Each dollar left to the Avalon from a retirement plan can be received by the Theatre without reduction by estate or income tax.

Naming the Avalon Theatre as the beneficiary of a retirement plan can be accomplished by completing a simple beneficiary designation form provided by your plan administrator (typically found on the administrator’s website). Such designations are revocable, meaning that you can change your mind in the future.

Insurance Policy

Naming the Avalon Theatre as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy is a simple way to leave a legacy, and can be accomplished by completing a beneficiary designation form provided by your insurance carrier. Such designations are revocable, meaning that you can change your mind in the future. Revocable deferred gifts are a critical source of support for charitable organizations and would be greatly appreciated by the Avalon.

Thank you for considering the Avalon Theatre in your planned giving.