Sample Bequest Language
Planning for the future and creating the legacy you wish to leave is one of the most effective ways to ensure a lasting impact. Making a gift in your will or living trust, known as a bequest, can guarantee that your legacy endures. Your gift may be a specific dollar amount, a percentage of your estate, or the remainder after all other provisions are specified.
Our federal tax ID number is: 13-1923626
Below is suggested language to use when drafting your bequest.
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Free Resource1. Outright Unrestricted Bequest
“I give, devise, and bequeath to The Carnegie Hall Corporation, 881 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York, the sum of _______dollars (or the following described property:___________) for its unrestricted use.”
2. Outright Restricted Bequest
“I give, devise, and bequeath to The Carnegie Hall Corporation, 881 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York, the sum of ______dollars to be used to create an endowment fund for [PURPOSE OF FUND]. If the Board of Trustees of The Carnegie Hall Corporation in its sole and absolute discretion, determines that circumstances are such that a literal compliance with the terms of this bequest is no longer practicable or appropriate, then The Carnegie Hall Corporation may use this bequest for another purpose that as closely as possible carries out my original intention.”
3. Unrestricted Bequest of Residuary Estate
“All (or ___%) of the rest, residue, and remainder of the property, both real and personal and wherever situated, which I may own or be entitled to at the time of my death, I give, devise, and bequeath to The Carnegie Hall Corporation, 881 Seventh Avenue, New York, for its unrestricted use.”
4. Restricted Bequest of Residuary Estate
“All (or___%) of the rest, residue, and remainder of the property, both real and personal and wherever situated, which I may own or be entitled to at the time of my death, I give, devise, and bequeath to The Carnegie Hall Corporation, 881 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York, to be used to create an endowment fund for [PURPOSE OF FUND]. If the Board of Trustees of The Carnegie Hall Corporation, in its sole and absolute discretion, determines that circumstances are such that a literal compliance with the terms of this bequest is no longer practicable or appropriate, then The Carnegie Hall Corporation may use this bequest for another purpose that as closely as possible carries out my original intention.”
5. Bequest to the Carnegie Hall Endowment Fund
“I give, devise, and bequeath to The Carnegie Hall Corporation, 881 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York, the sum of ______dollars, to be added to the Carnegie Hall Endowment Fund OR to establish the NAME OF FUND, with the income to be used for its general corporate purposes.”
6. Contingent Bequest
“If my husband/wife shall not survive me, then I give, devise, and bequeath all (or_____%) of the rest, residue, and remainder of my estate, to The Carnegie Hall Corporation, 881 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York, for its unrestricted use.”
For further information, please contact:
Susan J. Brady
Carnegie Hall
881 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019
Telephone: 212-903-9624
E-mail: sbrady@carnegiehall.org