Leaving your retirement plan or IRA to Bishop Ryan Catholic School is an excellent way to fund your bequest. By naming BRCS as the recipient of your retirement plan after your lifetime (or as a contingent beneficiary after the death of your spouse and/or dependents), you can avoid all estate and income taxes on those assets, thereby passing the donation to BRCS tax-free.
Under current tax law, distributions from qualified retirement plans generally must be reported by the recipient as taxable income. Additionally, in some cases, the balance may be subject to heavy estate taxes, leaving less than 30% of the original assets to the recipient. As the beneficiary of your retirement plan, BRCS would have the advantage of utilizing 100% of the plan's balance, since the apportionment would avert both income and estate taxes. If you would like your spouse or children to remain beneficiaries on the plan, you still have the option to include BRCS as a beneficiary of a specified portion of your assets. Upon your death, the plan's administrator can allocate that specified portion to BRCS without affecting your family's share.