Regional Director’s Message

Dear Friends,

The recent news that Aretha Franklin died intestate, without a valid will, caused me do a little web research about wills, and what I learned was eye opening.

According to the American Bar Association, approximately 55% of Americans die without a will or an estate plan. The aarp.com website cites a recent study that states that 42% of baby boomers (age 53-71) and 64% of adults aged 36-52 do not have estate planning documents.

Today, simply having a will isn’t enough. A recent article on the forbes.com website states that one of the most common estate planning mistakes is relying on a will alone as an estate plan. While a will is clearly a cornerstone of most estate plans, there are other documents (such as a living trust) and steps (such as keeping documents and beneficiaries updated and periodically reviewing/revising your plans to react to changing family situations and estate tax law) that need to be a part of a well-crafted estate plan.

Published reports estimate that roughly 8% of probated estates include charitable beneficiaries. What if we could move the needle up on the percentage of Americans who create a valid will? Or, what if we could move the needle up on the percentage of probated estates that include charitable beneficiaries? What if we could move the needle up on the number of NPH USA donors who remember us in their estate plans?

On Thursday, October 4 at 6:00 p.m., NPH USA will partner with local financial planning and legal experts to offer a free Charitable Estate Planning Seminar. The seminar will last approximately 90 minutes and will include a light supper. Event attendees will learn how to:

Avoid common estate and tax mistakes
Manage potential estate tax liabilities
Increase income and minimize taxes through estate and charitable gift planning
Include NPH USA and other charitable organizations in their estate plans
Stay on top of changing estate tax law

The location for the seminar will be the offices of Vestor Capital, 717 Forest Avenue, Suite 220, in Lake Forest, Illinois. For those of you familiar with Lake Forest, the location is just a block west of Market Square in downtown Lake Forest. All are welcome, but seating is limited and reservations are required. To reserve your seat, just give me a call at 312-386-7475 or email me at callworth@nphusa.org.

If you already have an estate plan in place, congratulations! Why not come to the event to learn more or to get the estate planning equivalent of a second opinion?

If you have already included NPH USA in your estate plans, thank you very much! You are very welcome to attend the seminar to learn more and perhaps to offer a testimonial of how and why you have provided for the children of NPH in this manner.

Whether or not you attend the event, please consider including NPH USA in your estate plans. Doing so will help NPH provide a bright future for thousands of orphaned, abandoned and at-risk children.

All the best,

Chuck Allworth
Midwest Region Director, NPH USA