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Guiding Considerations

What we choose to support financially reflects our most deeply held values learned over the course of a lifetime. Incorporating your philanthropic interests into your financial and estate planning can be a creative and satisfying way to achieve personal and family goals while making a legacy contribution to keep justice accessible to all Washingtonians.

What Is Planned Giving?

Planned giving is simply arranging a charitable gift so that you realize philanthropic objectives while maximizing tax and other financial benefits. A planned gift is generally made from your assets, rather than from your income.

How Do Planned Gifts Help the Endowment for Equal Justice?

Planned gifts for the benefit of the Endowment for Equal Justice assist us in our efforts to ensure that everyone in our state will be able to count on legal representation if circumstances require it. Each gift enhances our long-run financial security, enabling us to continue meeting the civil legal needs of low and income families and individuals. 

How Does a Donor Benefit in Making a Planned Gift?

With any type of planned gift for the benefit of the Endowment for Equal Justice comes the significant fulfillment of knowing you are helping to make legal aid available to those who need it most. In most cases, a planned gift also offers one or more of the following:

• a current income tax deduction
• increased cash flow from an asset, sometimes at more favorable tax rates
• preservation of an asset’s appreciation in value coupled with the elimination, reduction, or deferral of capital gains tax
• professional management of assets relied upon for income
• gift and estate tax savings 

What Planned Giving Options Are Possible?

Planned gifts can be made using various type of property:

• Cash
• Appreciated securities (whether publicly-traded or privately-held) owned more than a year
• Appreciated real estate owned more than a year
• Particular items such as equipment, furnishings, and collectibles
• Various assets such as life insurance policies, savings bonds, commercial annuity contracts, and funds held in an IRA or a qualified retirement plan

They can take any of several different forms:

An outright gift is one that is available to the Endowment for Equal Justice immediately.  Transfers of appreciated securities owned more than a year are particularly popular because you not only receive an income tax deduction for the full value of the securities, but also avoid tax on any of the gain.

• A bequest is another frequently chosen type of gift, as you can retain full ownership and use of an asset for as long as you live. Moreover, a bequest can take many different forms, depending on your circumstances. 
• As with a bequest, a beneficiary designation with respect to an IRA or a qualified retirement plan at the end of your life means you need not give up a source of income prematurely.  Such a gift is very easy to arrange and also completely avoids the income tax that would be due if the IRA or retirement plan assets were distributed to family members or other individuals.
• A gift of life insurance may be made either by designating the Endowment for Equal Justice as a beneficiary of the policy or by arranging for us to become the owner of the policy. The former entails many of the same advantages as a bequest, whereas the latter can result in current income tax savings.
• A retained life estate arrangement can be especially attractive if you are retired.  You deed your residence (or a farm) to the Endowment for Equal Justice while receiving a sizeable income tax deduction and retaining the right to continue living in your home. Upon your death, the property is sold and the proceeds are used by us to further our work.
• A charitable remainder trust makes payments to you and/or other individuals, either for life or for a period of up to 20 years. The amount paid can be fixed or variable. It is common for such trusts to be funded with assets that have increased in value over the years, due to the fact that no capital gains tax is paid at the time of funding or upon sale of assets owned by the trust. A deduction is also available for a portion of the value of what you contribute to the trust.
• A bargain sale can be appropriate if you would like to donate an asset to the Endowment for Equal Justice but cannot afford to do so on an outright basis. You receive a partial income tax deduction and avoid being taxed on part of the gain in any long-term appreciated property sold to the Endowment for Equal Justice.
• A charitable lead trust ensures annual cash flow for the Endowment for Equal Justice before ultimately distributing its assets to family members, all at little or no gift or estate tax cost.  Such trusts can also be structured to produce income tax benefits.

 How You Can Learn More about Your Options:  We would be happy to furnish you with additional information, answer your questions, and help you and your advisors consider whatever alternatives are appropriate for your particular situation. 

Please contact us:

By This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

By phone at (206)623.5261 x. 284 (director of development)

By U.S. Mail at Endowment for Equal Justice, 1325 Fourth Ave., Ste. 1335, Seattle, WA 98101

In addition, to assist you in making an informed decision regarding a planned gift, the Endowment for Equal Justice makes available the services of a nationally known consulting firm that can work with you and your advisors at no cost to you.

And Please – Allow Us To Say “Thank You!”

We have formed the Justice Society to recognize those who have made any type of deferred gift for the benefit of the Endowment for Equal Justice. Membership in the Justice Society is open to everyone who has notified us in writing that they have arranged a gift to the Endowment for Equal Justice through their will or other aspect of their estate plan.

Exclusive events and other special forms of recognition are afforded to Justice Society members on an ongoing basis. If you prefer, we will honor a request for anonymity. Still, we want you to let us know about whatever deferred gift you may have arranged for the Endowment for Equal Justice so that we can express in a suitable fashion our sincere appreciation.

The information on this website does not constitute legal, financial, tax or estate planning advice and should not be relied upon as a substitute for such advice. The Endowment for Equal Justice encourages you to seek the counsel of your own professional advisors and values their involvement as you determine how you would like to proceed.