For some donors a bequest - a gift made through a will or Living Trust - is the most realistic way of making a substantial contribution to MSRI. We invite you to consider MSRI in your estate plans. Your bequest may enable you to make a substantial gift to the Institute, and it may be used for a purpose of special interest to you.
Bequests can play an important role in supporting the Institute. Alumni, Trustees and Friends have made provision for the Institute in their wills and trusts.
These legacies can range from several millions of dollars to relatively smaller sums, but each adds strength to the Institute.
Your bequest to MSRI is a way for you to associate your name or the name of your family with MSRI permanently. They may be of various types: cash, securities, property, or works of art. An unrestricted bequest enables MSRI to direct your gift where it will have the greatest impact. If you wish to fund a specific area or interest, you can specify a restricted bequest.
A restricted bequest might endow the chair of a visiting researcher, support the library or underwrite research. If your will provides a restricted bequest, however, it is important that the bequest be described as broadly as possible and include a clause to allow for other similar uses of the funds in case circumstances change in the future. How to Make a Bequest to MSRI
A bequest can easily be established by having your attorney write an amendment to your present will. For an unrestricted bequest the following wording is suggested:
"I give and bequeath to the Trustees of Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, a non-profit corporation in Berkeley, CA, the sum of __ Dollars $__ (or the property described below) for such purposes as the Trustees of the Institute shall determine to be in the best interests of the Institute."
If you wish to make a restricted bequest, we strongly urge you to add the following wording as one of the terms of the gift in your will:
"If at some future time, in the judgement of a majority of the Trustees of the Institute, the income or principal of the fund established by this bequest can no longer be utilized to the best advantage of the Institute for the purposes or in the manner specified, then the income or principal, or both, may be used for such related purpose and in such other manner as the Trustees may deem appropriate that will most nearly accomplish my wishes."
Bequests can be made in several forms, including:
Specific Bequests:
MSRI would receive a specific dollar amount or percentage of the estate.
Contingent Bequests:
MSRI would receive a part or all of your estate only if the other beneficiaries do not survive you.
Trust Established Under a Will:
You provide an income to be paid from the trust to one or more individuals upon whose death(s) all or part of the principal passes to MSRI in a form which would insure your estate a deduction for estate tax purposes.
If you are writing will or wish to make a restricted bequest, we can assist you or your attorney with specific language to accord with your wishes. Please contact Annie Averitt, Director of Advancement and External Communication, at 510-643-6056 or aaveritt@msri.org.
MSRI Development and Alumni Relations web pages are not intended as tax advice.
Know that individual financial circumstances require specific professional guidance. Please contact your legal and financial advisors to see how these general issues apply to you.