Planned Giving

Planning For The Future

In 1971, Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. created a legacy when he presented his extraordinary art collection to the Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences. His gift transformed the Museum into an institution of international importance – a unique educational, social, and aesthetic resource for our community and beyond.

Today, we invite you to follow in Chrysler’s footsteps by establishing your own legacy and investing in the Museum’s future. A planned gift to the Chrysler is an expression of your commitment to this great institution and its collections and programs for generations to come.

Bequests

A bequest is the simplest and most common form of planned giving. A testamentary gift, made by will or trust, allows you to make a substantial contribution to the Museum without diminishing the assets available to you during your lifetime. Since charitable requests are deductible from the overall size of your estate, significant estate tax savings are possible.

There are several ways to make a bequest to the Chrysler Museum of Art.

• Name Chrysler as a specific beneficiary, stating a fixed dollar amount or percentage of your estate that you wish to donate to the Museum.
• Name Chrysler as a remainder beneficiary, providing for the Museum to receive assets from your estate after all specific beneficiaries have received their legacies.
• Name Chrysler as a contingent beneficiary, transferring the assets to the Museum only if someone named as a beneficiary does not survive you.

If you have already prepared a will, your attorney can add the Chrysler Museum of Art as a beneficiary through a simple amendment called a “codicil.”

In addition to cash, you may make your bequest in the form of securities, real estate or other forms of personal property.

Gifts that Give Back

Charitable Gift Annuity

To create a charitable gift annuity you transfer your assets and to the Museum and in return, the Chrysler will make regular, fixed payments to you for the rest of your life on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis. Rates of return for charitable gift annuities depend on your age at the time of the initial gift and can be generally higher than those from a traditional savings or money market account; the older you are, the higher the rate of return. Charitable gift annuities are attractive because every year you are guaranteed the same amount of income regardless of the state of the stock market.

In addition, you will receive a partial charitable tax deduction immediately upon making your gift and a portion of each annuity payment is also treated as tax-free income. A personalized illustration will be provided to you that will explore in greater detail the expected return and tax benefits of this option.

Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust

A charitable remainder annuity trust provides you and/or other beneficiaries with a fixed income for life or for a specified period of time. After this period, remaining assets pass to the Museum. An immediate partial charitable tax deduction is available upon creation of the trust. Charitable remainder trusts give you the flexibility to design a trust to meet your individual goals. You can select the beneficiaries, the trustees and the distribution rate.

Charitable Remainder Unitrusts

Charitable remainder unitrusts operate in the same manner as charitable remainder annuity trusts, except that instead of providing a fixed payout, payments from a unitrust vary annually depending on a fixed percentage of the fair market value of the trust’s assets. The exact amount of your annual payment is redetermined annually.

Other Ways to Give

Retirement Plans

A qualified retirement plan is an effective way to save for retirement, but is usually not a good way to pass assets to your heirs. If left to an individual other than a spouse, tax-deferred retirement plans such as an IRA or 401(k) can be subject to multiple layers of taxation. Naming the Chrysler Museum as the beneficiary or the contingent beneficiary for all or a portion of your retirement plan allows you to leave other, less-taxed assets to your heirs.

Real Estate

Gifts of real estate can include a house, vacation home, apartment building, commercial building, farm, or undeveloped land. Real estate can be contributed during your lifetime as an outright gift or as a bequest. It can also be used to fund a charitable remainder trust to provide income to you or others.

Life Insurance

Life insurance offers an attractive way to make a major gift to the Museum. For example, if you have a policy that is no longer needed, you may name the Chrysler Museum of Art as a beneficiary or contingent beneficiary. Any benefit the Museum receives from your insurance is excluded from your taxable estate.

By taking the additional step of naming the Museum the irrevocable beneficiary and owner of your life insurance policy, you obtain an immediate charitable tax deduction equivalent to either the policy’s cash surrender value or replacement value. If additional premiums are due, you also may deduct those payments as charitable contributions each year.

Joining the Torchbearers Society

Joining the Torchbearers Society is as simple as informing us of your intention to make a planned gift, and we invite you to contact us directly with any questions or to notify us of your gift plans.

If you are interested in investigating one or more of these planned giving options, please contact the Development Office at (757) 965-2032. We are happy to provide additional information for you to discuss with your attorney, accountant or financial advisor. We are also available to meet with you and your financial consultants.

Chrysler Museum of Art is truly grateful for the generous support it receives from the community. By making a planned gift, you ensure that future generations will enjoy all the benefits the Museum has to offer.

The information on this website is not intended as legal or tax advice. We recommend that you discuss the various types of trusts with your financial advisor and estate planner to determine which option is best suited to your philanthropic intentions.