Give a Gift Today

A bequest of cash or property through your will to the Burnaby Hospice Society can be a tangible expression of appreciation for the services that we offer and a gesture that might not be financially possible during your working or retirement years. There are several ways to make a bequest to the Burnaby Hospice Society:

• Special bequest: a fixed amount of cash or a particular asset or property
• Percentage share: a percentage share of the whole estate
• Contingent bequest: will only take effect in the event of the prior death of other beneficiaries

If you are planning to have a will drafted for the first time, or are considering making changes to your current will, your financial advisor can include a bequest to Burnaby Hospice Society.

Charitable gifts made in a will are deemed made in the year of death. Therefore, the charitable tax receipt is issued to the estate and can offset any tax owing from it. The information you provide is kept strictly confidential. You are not obligated to maintain your bequest should your circumstances or intentions change. A bequest is a revocable gift and you can modify or amend your will at any time.

To help us plan, please let us know if you have already made a bequest to the Society. We would welcome the opportunity to thank you for your gift.

You can maximize the value of your estate by naming the Burnaby Hospice Society as a direct beneficiary of your Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSP) or Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF).

If the beneficiary of your RRSP is someone other than your spouse, common law partner, or a financially dependent child or grandchild, the proceeds of the RRSP will be taxed as ordinary income on your estate. However, if a charitable organization is named a beneficiary, the total amount of the RRSP (or designated portion) will be given directly to the charity and will not be subject to probate. Your estate will receive a charitable donation tax receipt for total amount that has been gifted through your RRSP.

To include the Burnaby Hospice Society as a beneficiary of your RRSP, please contact your financial advisor or financial institution to update your beneficiary designation.

Insurance gifts are cost-effective and allow donors to give a larger gift than they may have thought possible. When you name a charitable organization as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy, the benefits of that policy go directly to the charity upon death and your estate receives a charitable tax receipt. A gift of life insurance is separate from your estate value and has no effect on its assets.

There are two ways that you can use a life insurance policy to benefit the work of the Burnaby Hospice Society:

Existing policy

You can use a policy that you presently own and change the ownership and beneficiary to the Society. For premium payments that you make, we will provide you with a tax receipt for the full amount. You can also retain ownership and name the Burnaby Hospice Society as a beneficiary. However, in this case Revenue Canada does not allow a tax receipt to be issued.

New policy

You can take out a new policy and make the Burnaby Hospice Society owner and beneficiary or just beneficiary. However, as indicated above, unless the Society is the owner of the policy, Revenue Canada will not allow a tax receipt to be issued.

The advantages of using a life insurance policy to make a legacy gift are:

• Considerable tax benefits
• A full range of products, price ranges and payment options to suit your circumstances
• Not subject to taxes, probate costs or estate debts
• Make a substantial future gift through relatively small monthly, yearly or single deposits from current income

A charitable gift annuity is an irrevocable contract between you and a charity, under which you contribute cash or other property in exchange for a specified, guaranteed, tax-preferred income paid at regular intervals for life. Depending on age, all or a substantial portion of the annuity payments may be tax free.

A gift of residual interest is an arrangement where an item of value is deemed to the Burnaby Hospice Society, but the donor retains the use for life or a term of years. The donor is entitled to a tax receipt for the assessed fair market value of the property at the time the gift is made.

A charitable remainder trust can be made during a donor’s lifetime or established within a will. Under this type of planned gift, the donor makes a gift to the Burnaby Hospice Society through a trust agreement. If the property generates income, the net will be paid to the named beneficiaries.