Planned giving is a way to consider gifts to charity that may have a positive affect on your estate. Your estate does not have to be large or complicated in order to consider a planned gift – in fact, a charitable gift can even be structured to provide you with income for life. Planned gifts can help maximize tax savings for you and your heirs, and can help you achieve your financial and personal goals.

We encourage you to explore the possibilities that planned giving provides. Planned gifts can be made with life insurance, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, cash, or real estate. Your attorney can assist you in developing a specific giving plan, or call 508-495-1878 to discuss possibilities with our Executive Director, Barbara Milligan.

The Beebe Society is our planned giving recognition society. Members are those who have a planned gift in place for Highfield’s future benefit. It may be a bequest in a will, a designation of Highfield as a beneficiary of a retirement account, a life income gift, an insurance policy beneficiary, or other such arrangement. Planned gifts are an important component in building the Highfield endowment, and ensuring that Highfield Hall and its surrounding landscape are preserved in perpetuity and continually used for the benefit of the community. We are honored and grateful to all of those individuals who consider Historic Highfield in their estate planning.

Bequests. Including Historic Highfield, Inc. in your will is one of the simplest ways to support the preservation of Highfield Hall. A bequest can be structured to suit your family needs and can also be flexible, adjusting to the size of your estate. The value of your charitable bequest is deductible for estate tax purposes and may offer significant tax savings, depending on the size of your estate.

To make a gift to Historic Highfield through your will, you may use the following language provided by our attorney:

"I give the sum of _______ Dollars ($_____) to Historic Highfield, Inc. of Falmouth, Massachusetts for its general purposes without restriction." 

Charitable Gift Annuities. A gift annuity is an agreement between you and Historic Highfield, Inc. in which you give a specific amount of cash, appreciated stock, or other property. In return for your gift you are guaranteed a fixed annual income for life, or for the life of a family member. The rate of return is determined by your age(s) at the time the gift is made. For more information on Charitable Gift Annuity and current annuity rates, please click here.

Charitable Remainder Trusts. When establishing a charitable remainder trust, you can provide income to yourself, or to a named beneficiary, while ultimately making a charitable gift to Historic Highfield. You transfer assets into a trust which either pays a fixed percentage or a fixed amount annually to your beneficiary. When the term of the trust ends, the final principal becomes available to Historic Highfield for use as you designate.

Charitable Lead Trusts. Assets may be placed in a charitable lead trust to benefit Historic Highfield, Inc. This means that the income generated by the assets will be used for the benefit of Historic Highfield for a designated number of years. Your beneficiaries will be provided with the remainder of the interest and the principle.

Real Estate. Before placing your property on the market, consider the benefits of donating it to Historic Highfield, Inc. The gift of a residence, vacation property, or land can offer numerous advantages and can be accomplished through outright gift or bargain sale. You could also transfer the value of your property to a life income plan.