In This Issue—Fall 2023

• New Haven Teacher Leaves a Legacy of Giving Back
• Are You Fully Leveraging the Power of Your Will?
• Bequests Allow You to Make Gifts That Cost Nothing Now
• Flexible Trusts: Protect Your Business and Help Your Spouse
• Planning Can Make a Huge Difference to Your Loved Ones
• Nettie J. Dayton Circle

Photo: Judy Sirota Rosenthal

Planning Can Make a Huge Difference to Your Loved Ones

In planning a will, you should first determine the loved ones and causes, such as The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, that you wish to benefit - and then consider the options that will be most effective in preserving assets for your beneficiaries.

• Married persons often transfer assets to surviving spouses and to provide for the care and support of dependent children. A carefully drafted will allows you to plan the most effective arrangements for your family. 
• An equal distribution of assets among children may not be appropriate if the needs of each differ significantly - but that is what the courts are likely to do in the absence of a will. Your loved ones may vary in their ability to manage assets. Furthermore, some of your assets - such as a home or interests in a family business - may not be easily divisible. 
• One privilege that parents of minor children should exercise is naming a guardian for the children in their wills. In the absence of a will, the courts may appoint a guardian that you as a parent would not have approved of. 
• Single people are even more vulnerable to the vagaries of a court-ordered distribution of assets to surviving relatives - no matter how distant - or to the state itself if no relatives can be found. A will is the best way for you to designate the special friends and charitable organizations that should receive assets from your estate.