I'm not in the habit of asking for free professional advice, and especially not from attorneys. But I'll make an exception in this case, because I am certain somebody, somewhere has boilerplate wording for this kind of thing just sitting in their drawer gathering dust, right next to the slip-and-fall questionnaires and the mesothelioma class action forms.I keep saying that lodges and temple buildings don't ask to be remembered in members' estate planning anymore. They used to. But as the appendant bodies and retirement homes took an ever widening bite out of Masonic charitable giving, and since fraternal institutions, for the most part, do not qualify as full-fledged tax exempt 501(c)3 charities, the blue lodges have suffered from financial neglect. Lodges rely on dues alone, for the most part, or on the largesse of brethren who passed away years ago.
One organization I belong to has a substantial fund that has not had a single contribution to it for over three decades.
So the free advice I'm asking for is legalistic boilerplate phraseology to put in newsletters, brochures and appeal letters for brethren to include in their wills in order to leave cash, insurance, retirement proceeds, property or other estate gifts to their local lodge.*
Or perhaps a lodge or grand lodge has already created a planned giving set of guidelines. If so, please pass it along, either as a comment to this entry, or to me at hodapp@aol.com
Thanks.
*Obviously, each state is different, and lodges may have aspects that are 501(c)3 eligible, so any such advice would include the admonition to actually speak to your lawyer.
I am a non-attorney spokesman.
