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Estate Planning
Supporting FBN through Estate Planned
Charitable Giving
There are many testimonies shared by
Christians whose lives have been change as a result of FBN’s
faithful Bible-based broadcasts through the years. If you
have ever have been blessed by our radio ministry as you
were driving in your car or listening at your home or work,
then consider this fact -- those blessings were the result
of someone who cared enough to donate to this radio ministry
to ensure that this ministry in music reached you. You can
return that blessing and provide ministry to others by
simply naming FBN in your will. It is as simple as stating
in your will that you wish to leave a percentage of your
estate to the Fundamental Broadcasting Network in order to
reach others for Christ.
Christ-centered estate
planning can also be a blessing to you and your family. It
can be a help when people are nearing the end of their lives
and need to get their affairs in order, or when they are in
their fifties and approaching retirement or when they are
younger and busy raising children.
It is vital for everyone to
do basic estate planning. Decisions about who will be the
executor of their estate, who will be the guardian of
younger children, how far they want the medical
establishment to go in keeping them alive, who will receive
sentimental or treasured possessions, what amount of
resources are to be given to loved ones and how they want to
honor the Lord by remembering their church and Christian
ministries in their estate plans is all prayerfully resolved
in Christian-based estate planning.
Without a will or estate
plan, people's families and the work of God will suffer
undue hardship, frustration, and loss. Through wise estate
planning, significant dollars are normally diverted from
taxes, probate, and legal costs and redirected to the Lord's
work. (without decreasing the amount of inheritance family
members will receive!)
FBN will help
you with any questions that you may have about how you can
include FBN in your Christian estate plan. FBN recommends
that you work with an attorney in drafting your plan. An
attorney can be recommended to you.
Information
that you will want to consider is the following:
1)
An Executor for your estate:
Whom do you
wish to manage the affairs of your estate? The person you
choose should be someone trustworthy, without a felony
record and over the age of 18. The most common choice by
most people is your surviving spouse. You should consider
an alternate person should your first choice be unable or
unwilling to manage your estate affairs.
2)
A Guardian for your minor children:
It is crucial
to name a guardian to care for your children if you still
have minor children (children under the age
of 18). It is a good idea to name an alternate choice,
should the person of first choice be unable or unwilling to
act as a guardian for your children.
3)
A Property Trustee for your children:
It is a good
idea to name a property trustee to guard the assets of your
estate for the benefit of your minor children. Once again,
it is a good idea to name an alternate property trustee here
as well.
4)
Property distribution:
It is
important that you make provision in your will for the
distribution of your entire estate. An effective way to
ensure that your entire estate is distributed properly is to
divide your estate into percentage shares. For example, “To
my brother, I leave 50% of my estate.”
You can also
make specific testamentary bequests as well. If you have a
special stamp, gun or precious metal collection, you should
spell that bequest out in the will. It is not enough to
just tell the person while you are alive that you want them
to have a particular item when you pass; it will only be
enforceable in probate if it is mentioned in your will.
Making these items clear in your will makes it easier on
your family to know what your true wishes are. Making your
wishes clear can save a lot of heartache, confusion and
probate expense at the time of your passing.
Remember FBN:
It is in the
property distribution paragraph in your will where you can
leave your greatest legacy for the cause of Christ.
Provided that you have made provisions for your minor
children, you can either leave a percentage of your estate
to FBN or make a specific bequest to FBN. FBN considers all
such gifts a sacred trust where the FBN radio ministry will
carry out your wishes of reaching a lost world for Jesus
Christ.
We thank you
for your support of the FBN ministry, and we count you as a
friend united in helping the lost find our Saviour.
If you have further interest in adding FBN
to your will, please share this information with your
personal attorney.
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