GIFTS OF LIFE INSURANCE Designate Houston Humane Society as the beneficiary (or one of the beneficiaries) of your life insurance policy.  This type of gift is very flexible, and the amounts and beneficiaries you specify can be changed as your situation changes.

IRA  ACCOUNTS  When you open an IRA account, you are asked to name a beneficiary in the event you pass away before all funds are used.  Many IRA accounts are taxable when funds are withdrawn, but when you name Houston Humane Society as the beneficiary of your IRA, 100% of that money goes to help the animals!

GIFTS OF STOCK If you have held a certain stock for more than one year and it has appreciated significantly, you can save taxes in two ways when you donate it to HHS:  first, by not having to pay capital gains tax on the sale of the stock, and second, by taking a tax deduction for the full market value of the stock on the date of your gift.

GIFTS BY LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT

Specific Bequest: You can give HHS a specified amount of cash, stocks, bonds, real estate, or anything else you wish in your Will.  Sample language which may help you or your attorney would be:            “I hereby give and bequeath to Houston Humane Society, a non-profit Texas corporation located at 14700 Almeda Road, Houston, Texas 77053, Tax I.D. #74-1340341,the sum of $_______.”  (or describe any other property)
Residuary Estate:  ­  In your Will, you can give any remaining property to Houston Humane Society after your specific bequests have been distributed.  Sample language would be:   “I hereby give and bequeath to Houston Humane Society … all of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, both real and personal, after providing for the specific provisions of this Will.”
By Codicil:  If you already have a Will and would like to add Houston Humane Society as a beneficiary, there’s no need to go through the expense of redrafting your entire Will.  Your attorney can prepare a Codicil with a bequest to HHS to attach to your Will, and the rest of the document stays the same.

Your donation may be for general use by the shelter to help the animals, or you may designate its use for a specific program.  (You can find out about our different programs here on our website, or call us for more information or with questions.)

CHARITABLE REMAINDER UNITRUSTS By putting some of your assets in a Charitable Remainder Unitrust, you or someone you designate could receive periodic income payments from the trust for a set term, or for your lifetime.  After the lifetime income payments have been made, the trustee transfers whatever amount is left in the trust to Houston Humane Society.  You receive a substantial tax deduction when you set up the trust, and you also avoid paying capital gains tax on appreciated property that was transferred to the trust, such as stocks.

CHARITABLE LEAD TRUSTS You can fund a trust that distributes regular payments to HHS for a set term of years, after which the remainder is returned to you or transferred to your family members.

For more information about various methods of planned giving, please consult your financial advisor or attorney, or contact our Executive Director at 713-341-3304, or at sferguson@houstonhumane.org.

The Houston Humane Society receives no funding from the city, the county or the state, or from any national animal welfare organizations.  We have always depended solely on donations from local people who care about animals and care about the work we continue to do in the greater Houston area and surrounding counties.