Why Support the Lloyd?
Amazing things happen every day at the Lloyd Library. The Library maintains, preserves and provides access to materials dating from 1493 to the present. The Lloyd’s collection includes including books, original art and archives on natural history, travel, botany, pharmacy, medicinal uses of plants, scientific history and the visual arts.
The Lloyd Library continues to develop collections that meet the needs of current and future users. We serve as a national and global hub for scholars and researchers and are dedicated to preserving and protecting our unique collections
Our members and donors help us bring broader awareness, unique perspectives and dialog on issues related to our mission. Funding for Lloyd Library based fellowships promote research in the visual arts, history, botany and plant-based medicine.
Leave a Legacy
If you have ever thought, I wish I could do more for the Lloyd Library, consider some of these powerful techniques to support the Library. A gift in your will or trust or a beneficiary designation can make a difference. You will leave a lasting impact supporting the Lloyd’s mission.
Gifts from your Will or Trust
A charitable gift from your estate is a favored method of giving that enables you to achieve your financial goals and benefit the Lloyd Library. No other planned gift is as simple to implement or as easy to change should you ever need it during your lifetime.
A provision in your will or living trust to support the Lloyd may be right for you if:
- You would like to make a gift to the Lloyd Library and Museum
- You want the flexibility to change your mind
- You want continued access to your gift assets, should you need it
- You are concerned about outliving your resources
We all enter a time in our life when we need to have documents in place for the distribution of those possessions and assets that we have accumulated over a lifetime. This is best accomplished by having a will or trust that is the road map for this distribution. More than you may realize, your will or trust also tells the story of your life and values.
Understandably, you will leave assets to loved ones. But what else defined your life and the values you are hopefully imparting to your next generation? These values are often demonstrated by the organizations and causes you supported during your lifetime, such as the Lloyd Library and Museum.
As you prepare these documents how will your plan tell your life story? Please consider a gift to Lloyd Library and Museum so that we can continue our mission of education and scholarship.
Next Steps
- If you already have a will or trust, review the documents to determine if any changes in your family or other circumstances warrant revising the document.
- If you wish to add a gift for the Lloyd Library and Museum in your existing will or trust, contact the attorney who drafted the document and request a simple amendment.
- If you don't have a will or trust, contact an attorney to have these documents prepared. If you don't know who to contact, seek a recommendation for an estate planning attorney from family members, friends, or colleagues at work. You may also contact your local bar association lawyer reference service for a referral.
Beneficiary Designations
A beneficiary designation is one of the simplest ways to make a gift to the Lloyd Library and Museum. It's literally as easy as filling out a form. You can specify the individuals and charities you want to support, and you can also specify the percentage of the assets you want each beneficiary to receive.
Retirement Assets
An alternative to a bequest gift is to designate the Lloyd Library and Museum as the beneficiary of your retirement assets. This gift is simple because you can control the transfer of these assets at your death without changing your will or living trust. All you need to do is request and submit a new beneficiary designation form from your plan administrator. There is no need to modify your will or living trust.
Life Insurance
Life Insurance policies can also be used to make a gift to the Lloyd. Complete and return to the insurance company a form designating that the Lloyd Library and Museum receives all or a portion of the death benefit associated with your life insurance policy.
Commercial Annuity Contracts
You may own a commercial annuity that will have a remaining value at the end of the annuitant’s lifetime. You can name the Lloyd to receive all or part of this amount by designating it as a beneficiary (sole or partial) on the appropriate form from the insurance company.
Bank and Investment Accounts
You can instruct your bank to pay the Lloyd all or a portion of what remains in a checking or savings account. Your bank can provide you with the appropriate beneficiary designation form. Likewise, you can instruct your investment company to transfer some or all investments to the Lloyd. Your broker or agent can let you know the process for doing this – it may be as simple as adding “T.O.D” the Lloyd Library and Museum” after your name on the account.
Next Steps
Consult with your professional advisers as to how naming the Lloyd as a beneficiary of some or all of your accounts will impact your overall estate plan. You will need to obtain the beneficiary designation forms from account administrators and return the completed forms to the administrators. Some financial institutions will allow you to designate beneficiaries through their website.
For more information or to discuss your future plans, contact Patricia Van Skaik, Executive Director of the Lloyd Library and Museum at 513-419-2574 or pvanskaik@lloydlibrary.org.