Gifts That Cost You Nothing Now

Gifts in a will or by beneficiary designation are two easy ways to ensure that the best in patient care, groundbreaking research, and education of future medical leaders continues to flourish at the Brigham for generations to come — and they don’t cost anything today.
Please let us know if you’ve included a gift for the Brigham in your will or through a beneficiary designation. Providing us with information is the best way to ensure that your gift is used in the way you intend.

Gifts in a Will or Trust

Making a legacy gift in your will or trust is one of the easiest and most popular ways to make a lasting impact for Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Once you have provided for your loved ones, we hope you will consider making our life-saving work part of your life story through a legacy gift. Legacy gifts that are designated to support the most pressing needs of the hospital allow us to optimize your impact and ensure that your gift is used where it will do the most good. However, you can also restrict your gift to support an area of the hospital or research that you are most passionate about.

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A gift in your will or trust is one of the easiest ways to create your legacy and offers the following benefits:

Lasting Impact

Your gift will create your legacy of life-giving breakthroughs.

Flexible

You can alter your gift or change your mind at any time and for any reason.

No Cost

Costs you nothing now to give in this way.

Four simple, “no-cost-now” ways to give in your will or trust

General gift
A general bequest is a gift of a specific amount or percentage. For example, “I give a sum of $25,000 to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Inc.,” or “I give 20% of my estate to my daughter, Cheryl.”
Residuary gift
Another common way of leaving a gift to charity while leaving the majority of assets to loved ones is a residuary bequest: “I give the balance of my estate (or some percentage of the remainder of my estate), after all other bequests are satisfied, to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Inc.”
Specific gift
A specific bequest is a gift of a particular piece of property, such as real estate, funds in a bank account or share of a corporation. For example, “I give my real estate to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Inc.,” or “I give my real estate to my nephew, Sean.”
Contingent gift
A contingent bequest is a gift made on condition that a certain event occurs. This kind of bequest is often used to leave gifts to charity. For example, “I give $30,000 to my friend Emily if she survives me—or, if not, to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Inc.”

To take your next steps, view sample language for your will and share it with your attorney or other advisor.

Gifts by Beneficiary Designation

It’s easy to put your bank accounts, retirement funds, savings bonds, and more to use in advancing treatments and cures — and it costs you nothing now.

By naming Brigham and Women’s Hospital as a beneficiary of these assets, you can power our mission for years to come and establish your personal legacy of world-class medical research and care.

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Potential benefits of gifts by beneficiary designation:

Reduce or eliminate taxes
Reduce or avoid probate fees
No cost to you now to give
Create your legacy with the Brigham

Options you can name us as a beneficiary

Retirement plan assets
You can simply name Brigham and Women’s Hospital as a beneficiary of your retirement plan to improve care for all of our patients.
Life insurance policies
You can name Brigham and Women’s Hospital as a beneficiary of all or a portion of your life insurance policy. With this gift arrangement, the Brigham will receive the proceeds of your policy after your lifetime. You can change your beneficiary at any time and may reduce your estate taxes.
Bank or brokerage accounts
This is one of the easiest gifts to give and one of the most useful in accomplishing your philanthropic goals. The next time you visit your bank, you can name Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Tax ID: 04-2312909) as the beneficiary of a checking or savings bank account, a certificate of deposit (CD), or a brokerage account. When you do, you’ll take a powerful step toward life-giving cures for generations to come.
Funds remaining in your donor-advised fund
What remains in a donor-advised fund is governed by the contract you completed when you created your fund. When you name Brigham and Women’s Hospital as a “successor” of your account or a portion of your account value, you enable education for the next generation of medical leaders.

How to update a beneficiary designation:

Simply contact your bank, retirement plan administrator, insurance company, or other financial institution to request a beneficiary designation form. You may also be able to log in to your account and update your beneficiaries online.
Please use our legal name: Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Inc.
Include our tax identification number: 04-2312909
Please let us know so we can ensure that your wishes are carried out.

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