Wills and Living Trusts
Gifts that Endure
Your ongoing donations to the Mazer Archives are vital to keeping our doors open and maintaining the archival material. And yet your support through Wills and Living Trusts are the insurance (no pun intended) that the Mazer Archives will be properly funded in future years. Both donations are vital and needed. Both kinds of donations allow us to continue archiving and maintaining the lives of lesbians for future generations and the present to enjoy.
Anonymous or Named?
You can choose to remain anonymous or be thanked in our publications and mailings. We can honor your wishes, as well, if you decide to donate materials to the archives anonymously. By remaining unnamed you protect your privacy. We do not, however, under any circumstances, allow our donor lists to be scanned, borrowed, duplicated or electronically manipulated in any way. If you choose to be named, it will be with your written consent, and only our publications will have your gift listed.
Wills and Living Trusts:
To make sure your exact intentions are carried out, wills (or codicils) or Living Trusts should be prepared with your attorney’s advice. A bequest to the Mazer Archives can be in the form cash, securities, real estate, personal papers (i.e. diaries, love letters, etc.) or other property. If you are considering a gift of appreciated real estate, please contact us for advice on how best to meet your charitable objectives.
You may find living trusts advantageous. This gives the donor access to property during his or her lifetime and carries with it great savings on inheritance costs.
Outright bequests to Mazer, whatever the amount, are free from federal estate tax and inheritance taxes of many states. The resulting tax saving may be substantial.
Testamentary gifts or bequests may take various forms. Four possibilities are:
An outright or specific bequest designating the Mazer Archives as the recipient of a stated dollar amount or fraction of the estate. This bequest may be in the form of cash, securities, real estate, tangible or real property, personal papers, collectibles or any other type of property.
A residuary bequest names the Mazer Archives to receive all or a specified part of the estate remaining after specific legacies or bequests have been distributed.
A contingent bequest takes effect only in the event that all of the primary beneficiaries under the will are pre-deceased. The naming of the Mazer Archives can prevent the property from going to the state for lack of heirs.
A testamentary trust of Living Trust, or a bequest reserving life income, is an arrangement where part or all of the estate is left in trust with the income or some stated amount is to be paid to the donor or to one or more beneficiaries. Upon the death of the donor or the surviving beneficiaries, the principal or assets will be paid to the Mazer Archives and used for the purposes you have designated.
We welcome you to visit us at the archives and see for yourself how important your donation is to preserving our lesbian herstory. Volunteers are available to answer your questions on how to include the Mazer Archives in your will or Living Trust.
In Addition
You are more than welcome to send us money any time you’d like to. You can designate your gift for a particular project (cataloging, Website maintenance) or for part of the collection that you’d like to help expand or maintain (archiving periodicals, acquiring more audio-visual materials).
Feel welcome to email us for more information at contact@mazerlesbianarchives.org.