Gift planning at Advocate Charitable Foundation and Aurora Health Care Foundation

Consider including us in your estate plan. It costs you nothing now but you can know you are providing support for Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care down the road. For a gift from your will or living trust, you can designate a certain dollar amount, a percentage of your estate, or whatever remains after all expenses, taxes and other bequests have been paid. You also can make a gift by designating a specific asset or piece of property. If you prefer, you can make your gift revocable or contingent.

Need help getting started? We’ve partnered with FreeWill because their secure online resource can help you make or update your will or trust in just 20 minutes for free. FreeWill will also guide you through the process of including a gift to us in your plans.

We have also drafted bequest language for your attorney’s consideration:

Advocate will or living trust [PDF] 
Aurora will or living trust [PDF] 

Have you already included a gift in your will or trust? Please fill out this form to let us know! We would love to thank you for your generosity and ensure our records are up-to-date.

Do you have an IRA, 401(k), life-insurance policy, or any other non-probate assets not included in your will? Designating us as a beneficiary of one or more of these assets is another way to establish your legacy. Our partner, FreeWill, can help you plan for all your non-probate assets.

You can give assets such as retirement plans, brokerage accounts and bank accounts by designating us as a beneficiary in whole or in part. Like gifts from a will or living trust, gifts made in this way do not provide any immediate tax deduction. Your heirs may face hefty taxes on assets that have been tax-deferred, such as retirement accounts; however, if this type of asset is donated to us, no tax is due. If you have a donor-advised fund, consider making us an ultimate beneficiary of it.

Advocate gifts from retirement plans [PDF]  
Aurora gifts from retirement plans [PDF]
Advocate gifts from bank and brokerage accounts [PDF] 
Aurora gifts from bank and brokerage accounts [PDF] 

If you are 70½ and therefore required to take distributions from your IRA, thanks to the charitable rollover provision in the tax code, you can make a gift by requesting a direct distribution from your IRA to us; this distribution will not count as taxable income.

Advocate IRA charitable rollover [PDF] 
Aurora IRA charitable rollover [PDF] 

Like a gift annuity, a charitable remainder trust can provide income for you and others. The income continues for the lifetimes of the beneficiaries, for a fixed term or for a combination of the two. When the trust ends, the remaining assets in the trust go to the charitable organization(s) you choose. This kind of trust has many variations to suit your situation.

Advocate charitable remainder trust [PDF] 
Aurora charitable remainder trust [PDF] 

A life insurance policy is another asset that you can give through a beneficiary designation. It’s easy to donate and it’s revocable, but there’s no immediate tax benefit. To receive a charitable deduction, you need to make us the irrevocable owner of the policy; you’re also expected to pay any premiums due, which can be tax deductible too.

Advocate gifts of life insurance [PDF] 
Aurora gifts of life insurance [PDF] 

We accept gifts of publicly traded securities, including stock, corporate bonds, municipal securities and mutual funds. Securities are valued as of the date the gift is received. Giving appreciated securities is a savvy strategy for avoiding capital-gains taxes. We have instructions to facilitate making this kind of gift available by request.

Advocate giving securities [PDF]  
Aurora giving securities [PDF]
Advocate giving appreciated securities [PDF] 
Aurora giving appreciated securities [PDF] 

Gifts of real estate can take on a variety of forms. Besides an outright gift, you can give an undivided fractional share of property or a life estate, which allows you to continue to live in your residence and get a sizeable deduction. We welcome the opportunity to explore the possibility of a real estate gift with you.

Advocate real estate [PDF] 
Aurora real estate [PDF] 

Gift annuities are a way to make a gift for the future, receive a charitable deduction now and enjoy a fixed lifetime income for you or others you choose. In exchange for your gift, we commit to pay a lifetime annuity. Upon the death of the annuitant(s), the remaining amount in the annuity fund will support the Advocate Health Care or Aurora Health Care hospital or program you choose.

Annuity rates are based on age. For example, a 68-year-old person making a $10,000 gift would receive a rate of 5.7%, resulting in an annuity of $570 and a charitable deduction of over $4,240. And nearly three-quarters of the annuity would be tax-free for over 17 years.

The longer you defer beginning payments, the better the annuity rate you receive. For example, if you just turned 50 and defer starting payments until age 70, your annuity rate would be 13.5% and your annuity would be $1,350, of which almost 20% would be tax-free for nearly 16 years. You would also receive a charitable deduction of $6,140.

Advocate charitable gift annuities [PDF] 
Aurora charitable gift annuities [PDF] 

Endowments are a way to leave a legacy while creating stable funding sources for our hospitals and programs.

More information about endowments