Naming the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) as a beneficiary of your life insurance policy is a simple way to make a gift to JGI that has significant impact and can help us pursue our strategic plan to continue Jane’s vision into the future.
You can name JGI as a beneficiary of all or part of any individual or group life insurance policy, or as a contingent beneficiary should your other beneficiaries not survive you. If you donate the policy directly to JGI, you will also receive an income tax deduction. Because insurance doesn’t pass through your will, it avoids probate.
Life insurance can be used in many ways to help you make charitable gifts more effectively. One example is the use of life insurance to “replace” funds in your estate that have been given to the Jane Goodall Institute. The life insurance policy proceeds serve to provide an inheritance for heirs that might not otherwise be available.
For example, you might use the tax savings and all or a portion of the income generated by a charitable remainder trust or other gift plan to purchase life insurance benefitting your heirs. That way, the charity receives the gift you intend, while your heirs enjoy their inheritance – often at little or no cost to you or them. Check with your life insurance professional or other financial advisor for additional information about this option.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT DESIGNATION OF LIFE INSURANCE BENEFICIARIES
| Primary Beneficiary(ies) | Means the person(s) you choose to receive your life insurance benefits. Please specify the percentage of the benefit you want paid to each beneficiary; these percentages should total 100%. If any primary beneficiary is disqualified or dies before you his/her percentage of the benefit will be paid to the remaining primary beneficiary(ies). | Contingent Beneficiary(ies) | Means the person(s) you choose to receive your life insurance benefits only if all primary beneficiaries are disqualified or die before you. Please specify the percentage of the benefit you want paid to each beneficiary; these percentages should total 100%. If any contingent beneficiary is disqualified or dies before you, his/her percentage of the benefit will be paid to the remaining contingent beneficiary(ies). |
| Minor Beneficiary(ies) | means a minor child/children who are named as beneficiaries. It is important to understand that insurance benefits may not be released to a minor child. They may, however, be paid to a court appointed guardian of the child’s estate. The regulations governing minor beneficiaries vary by state. |
| A Trust as a Beneficiary | You may designate a valid Trust as a beneficiary. |
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT LIFE INSURANCE
Updates to your Beneficiary Designation – You can change your beneficiary designation at any time. You may wish to review your designation periodically.
Consult an Attorney – The above information is not intended to be relied on as legal advice. You may wish to get the assistance of an Attorney to help ensure your beneficiary designation/s correctly reflects your intentions.
“For reasons that may remain mysterious, I feel a deep spiritual connection with chimpanzees and other Great Apes. In the absence of biological children, where better to leave a sizable portion of my estate than to JGI, which works so faithfully to protect these marvelous creatures.”
– Toni McNaron, Minneapolis, MN
