Leave a Bequest

Include a bequest or gift to Curtis in your estate planning arrangements: wills, trusts, life insurance and qualified retirement plans.

A gift to Curtis with a bequest in your will, or by naming Curtis as a beneficiary of your trust, retirement plan or life insurance policy, will help to preserve the future of The Curtis Institute of Music and maintain the school's high standard of excellence. Those who inform Curtis of their plans to leave a bequest to the school become members of the Founder's Society.

THE FOUNDER'S SOCIETY
Join others who have named Curtis in their wills and other estate planning arrangements. As a member of the Founder's Society, your "legacy of music" at The Curtis Institute of Music will be greatly appreciated and appropriately recognized in the school's publications.

The Curtis Institute of Music was founded in 1924 by Mary Louise Curtis Bok. For most of her life, Mrs. Bok took personal responsibility for the Institute and its policy of providing each and every student with a merit-based, full-tuition scholarship. Although the founder died in 1970, Curtis continues to maintain the full-tuition scholarship policy and its position as one of the world's great music conservatories.

The Founder's Society at The Curtis Institute of Music honors the people who have included Curtis as a beneficiary under their wills, trusts and life insurance policies, retirement plans and other estate planning arrangements, such as:

Life-Income Plans. Charitable-remainder trusts, the Curtis Pooled Income Fund and charitable gift annuities.

How to Become a Member of the Founder's Society
To become a member of the Founder's Society, complete the school's "Letter of Intent" and return it in the mail to the Development Office, The Curtis Institute of Music, 1726 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103.

Tax Benefits
A bequest to Curtis is deductible for federal estate tax purposes and in most states will not be subject to inheritance taxes. Because gifts to Curtis at death from qualified retirement plans avoid both income and estate taxes, the tax savings may be considerable.

Ways to Give
Specific bequests are gifts you make in your will of a specified amount of money, such as $10,000, or a designated asset, such as 100 shares of stock, or a valuable musical instrument. For example, "I give $150,000 to The Curtis Institute of Music, now having its principal offices at 1726 Locust Street, for its general purposes, to endow the Jane Doe Fellowship for Clarinet Students."

Residuary bequests are gifts of a percentage of your estate after payment of specific bequests, debts, estate administration expenses, and taxes. For example, "I give the residue of my estate to The Curtis Institute of Music, now having its principal offices at 1726 Locust Street, for its general purposes."

Retirement plans such as IRAs, 401(k) plans and 403(b) plans, give you the right to designate a beneficiary. You can name Curtis to receive all or a part of the proceeds. If you're married, your spouse must participate if you name Curtis as beneficiary of a qualified retirement plan.

Life insurance policies, including whole life and group plans, provide for named beneficiaries. You can designate Curtis to be a primary beneficiary, or a contingent beneficiary.

Testamentary charitable lead trusts are created by will to pay Curtis an annual amount for a specified number of years, then the trust ends and the remaining trust assets are usually transferred to children or other heirs. For people with very large estates, charitable lead trusts may significantly reduce federal estate taxes.

Testamentary charitable remainder trusts, also created by will so they take effect after your death. The trust pays your named beneficiary an annual amount for life, or a specified number of years, then the remaining trust assets are transferred to Curtis.

Leave a Legacy
Make a difference in the lives that follow. Curtis joins with hundreds of non-profit organizations in support of Leave a Legacy, a program organized and sponsored by the National Committee on Planned Giving. More information and statistics on giving are available at the Leave a Legacy website.

For More Information
This information is not intended to be legal advice. We encourage you to consult your attorney and tax advisors about the application of charitable bequests and trusts to your particular situation. For additional information about endowment gifts to Curtis, please contact Charles Sterne III, director of major gifts and planned giving, at 215-893-5279.

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