A bequest in your will entitles your estate to a donation receipt for the full value of your gift, which may significantly reduce the tax payable on your final income tax return. 

 

A bequest can be as simple as a sentence or two in your will, or a codicil appended to your present will. Here are sample clauses that you may wish to discuss with your lawyer:

An unrestricted bequest allows the hospital the flexibility of putting your donation to immediate use, where it is needed most. If you would like your gift to support an area of particular interest, or to be held as an endowment, please contact Nadine Fowler and she will help you plan your gift.  

Although endowments may last forever, the annual earnings available for use by the hospital can be small when investment returns are low. A spend down fund allows for larger amounts to be used by the hospital each year, maximizing the impact of the gift over a specific period of time. 

 

The donation is invested and prudently managed, with amounts paid out to the hospital until the fund is ‘spent down’. For example, an estate gift may pay out in equal installments over ten years, or until the fund is depleted. The funds can be used for urgent or emerging priorities, for new projects as determined annaully by the hospital’s administration, or for a special purpose of interest to the donor.