Insurance
gifts are cost-effective and allow donors the ability to give
a larger gift than you may have thought possible. Since February
2000, a charity can be made the beneficiary of a life insurance
policy. Upon death, the benefits of that policy can go directly
to the charity and your estate receives the resulting charitable
tax receipt. In this instance, the proceeds of the life insurance
policy avoid your estate and thus avoid probate taxes.
There
are two ways that you can use a life insurance policy to benefit
the work of the MS Society:
Existing
Policy
You
can use a policy that you presently own and change the ownership
and beneficiary to the MS Society. For premium payments that
you make, the MS Society will provide you with a tax receipt
for the full amount.
You
can also retain ownership and name the MS Society as a beneficiary.
However, in this case, Revenue Canada does not allow a tax
receipt to be issued.
New
Policy
You
can take out a new policy and make the MS Society owner and
beneficiary or just beneficiary. However, as indicated above,
unless the Society is owner of the policy, Revenue Canada will
not allow a tax receipt to be issued.
The
advantages of using a life insurance policy to make a planned
gift are:
You
can receive considerable tax benefits;
You
can choose from a full range of products, price ranges, and
payment periods to suit your circumstances;
Your
gift is not subject to taxes, probate costs or estate debts;
You
can make a substantial future gift through relatively small
monthly, yearly, or single deposits from current income.
For
more information, please contact the MS
Society Office in your area.
