A Bequest in your Will or Living Trust

Steve and Marlene Seibert

Steve Seibert's passion for Samford is in his blood. F. Paige Seibert Gymnasium bears the name of his grandfather.

Steve: Although Marlene and I are not Samford alumni, Samford is important to both of us. My grandfather was close to Frank P. Samford and Harwell G. Davis. Through my desire to continue the legacy of his investments in the University, I have grown to appreciate the quality of education at Samford and atmosphere of Christian values.

We support Samford with current gifts, but we have talked about doing more. In a Seasons magazine, we saw the names listed in the DeVotie Heritage Society, each one representing a planned estate gift to Samford. We decided to join the list.

When we met with our lawyer to revise our wills, we each included a provision for Samford. Our lawyer put language in the will that allows a percentage of our estate to go to Samford. This was easy to arrange and allows us to use our assets during lifetime as we need them.

We will do our part during our lives, but it feels good to know that our support will continue beyond our lifetime to help Samford impact students far into the future.

You can make a gift without affecting your asset
balance or cash flow during your lifetime.

A bequest may be a specific gift, all or a percentage of your estate or what remains after specific bequests to loved ones, and bequests to Samford are not subject to "death taxes."

An easy-to-make gift hidden in your estate

Eugene W. (Gene) Bluemly, Jr.

Talk with Gene Bluemly a few minutes and you'll quickly learn that Samford is important to him.

Gene: I have always respected Samford and found a real difference on the campus. I played football for the Bulldogs under legendary coach Bobby Bowden. I met my first wife Nancy, now deceased, and her father Lou Arnold, Samford's photographer for 33 years. I remarried and still love to take every opportunity to visit the campus with my wife Della and my daughter Susan.

Health problems have forced me to retire from Equitable Insurance Company (now AXA Financial Advisors), but I am a charter member of Samford's Professional Advisors Council and enjoy working with other financial advisors to support Samford's work. My lawyer is also a charter member of the Council. When the Director of Gift Planning asked me about a gift to Samford Athletics, I told him to talk with my lawyer.

After several discussions with my financial advisors and Samford's Gift Planning Director, I decided to cash out a part of my retirement plan for a gift to the Samford Athletic Department. I knew that assets left in my retirement plan at my death would be taxed with both estate tax and income taxes, causing over half the value to be lost. Since I had just turned age 59-1/2, I could take money from the plan without a withdrawal penalty and then make a tax-deductible gift to Samford. It made sense to me, and my advisors thought it was a good idea.

Maintaining support for my family was important because of my disability. With this strategy, I was able to make a larger gift to Samford than I had ever even considered, and with no impact on our standard of living

The withdrawal was taxed as income during that year, but the charitable deduction I received offset the tax. My joy in being able to help Samford with their immediate need was beyond what I could have imagined. Della, Susan and I have made many new friends at Samford. Now, each day we are able to know the satisfaction of reaching beyond the obvious to find expression of our priorities.

Estate of Flora Woods Norwood

Flora Norwood

Flora Norwood was a widow who had a great love for Samford University. She appreciated the Christian values that were the foundation of everything about Samford and wanted to say so through a gift from her estate at her death.

As Flora considered re-writing her will, her attorney asked the appropriate questions about the assets she owned. When Flora told him her wishes for a bequest to Samford, he recommended that Flora's EE U.S. savings bonds be specified for the gift to Samford. Why? He knew that bondholders typically do not pay tax on accrued interest over the years, and Flora had not. At her death, all of the accumulated interest would be subject to income tax. However, a gift to Samford University through Flora's will would avoid the taxes and the difficulty of computing them. Flora specified her U.S. savings bonds for the bequest to Samford and was so impressed with her attorney's advice she named him executor of her will.

When Flora died, her attorney called Samford's Office of Gift and Estate Planning about the plans Flora had made. He gathered all the bond certificates, had them re-registered in the name of Samford University and mailed them to the University.

Because Samford, is a tax-exempt institution, the full amount of the bond certificates' value was invested in the Flora M. Woods Norwood Music Scholarship. Flora had attended church all her life, and her love for both church music and Samford lives on through the scholarship that will help Samford music students for generations to come.

The "double benefit" of giving part and keeping part

J.B. and Nancy Davis

J.B. and Nancy Davis have been loyal supporters of Samford for many years, even though are graduates of another university.

J.B.: After two years at Samford under the Navy V-5 and V-12 programs, I was transferred to another university to complete officer training. Although my education was finished elsewhere, a large part of my heart remained at Samford. In order that the Navy program at Samford during the World War II years would not be forgotten, I donated my Navy dress uniform to the Special Collections Library, where it is still on display today.

Nancy: After J.B.'s career in industrial engineering, real estate and public service and my teaching career that included six years of teaching at Samford, both our hearts were calling us to do more for Samford. J.B. knew that our beach condominium had increased in value over our twelve years of ownership and would be subject to considerable taxes if we were to sell it. He contacted the Director of Gift Planning about our giving all or part of the beach property to Samford, as well as how our gift could be used by the University.

J.B.: I was familiar with the real estate market in the area and wanted to make sure, if we all decided to sell after the gift, that the transaction was handled by knowledgeable parties at the right price and with minimal problems for Samford. Yet, we didn't see that we could afford to give away the full value. We decided to deed half ownership to Samford and retain the other half. This way we retained the input I wanted, and we avoided capital gains tax on the market value increase on the half given to Samford. The income tax deduction we received for the gift offset the capital gains tax on our half. This allowed us to make a larger gift to Samford, eliminated taxes and provided some money for our retirement needs or for later gifts to Samford.

Give to yourself now and to Samford later

Robert and Ann Taylor

Bob retired 14 years ago after a fulfilling career in scientific research and teaching at several universities. In their undergraduate schools, both Bob and Ann had strong liberal arts backgrounds. They wanted their daughter and son to have opportunities to study in similar environments, and encouraged them to consider Samford among their choices. Both young people had excellent and enduring experiences at Samford, earning two degrees each.

Bob: We are impressed greatly by the academic, esthetic and physical environment at Samford, and are impressed with the quality of the faculties and the educational results. We also appreciate Samford's dedication to academic, ethical, and Christian standards, and wished to do what we could to support that mission in continuity.

However, I was facing a reduction of income at my approaching retirement. We wished to maintain income approximating pre-retirement levels, and could not afford to make an outright gift to Samford in the amount we were considering. We decided to start a charitable remainder trust which would pay income for our joint lives, with the remainder going to Samford.

Once our attorney drafted the document, we changed the title of our stock to the name of the trust. Because we were able to select a payout exceeding the stock earnings, we have been pleased that our overall income has not differed greatly from that before retirement.

Why did we do this? More than receiving the financial benefits of reducing taxes without sacrificing needed income, Ann and I wanted to express our gratitude to Samford for the opportunity our children had in receiving quality educations in an academic and social environment that reinforced ethical and Christian virtues. We also wanted to help Samford provide the same advantages to other young people that the institution did for ours.

The satisfaction we feel about being able to help Samford in this way is beyond what we anticipated. For us, a charitable remainder trust has been a great way to support Samford, and to receive personal satisfaction and financial benefits.

Keep memories alive and lock in your giving forever

John and Carol Duren

Carol: John and I share very fond memories of Samford, the administration, faculty and particularly the students. I know how much John's family cherishes Samford. He and several of his family members are graduates. We believe that Samford is such a wonderful place for students to prepare for life and their service to the world that we decided to do something that would help other students choose Samford.

John: Over 10 years ago, Carol and I started the John and Carol Duren Scholarship Fund with the hope that it would be granted to incoming freshmen who need financial aid to attend Samford. Through my study of chemistry and career in the chemical industry, I came to appreciate the benefits to society made possible by citizens with a general knowledge of math and science. I wanted to help young students develop the same appreciation. The fund helps Samford students who want to prepare to teach science or math to junior high or high school students.

Samford has done a good job of investing the fund we established, and it has grown substantially. We have used multiple resources to help it grow. My company, DOW Chemical, has a matching gift program that helped us build the fund principal. When it makes sense, we give appreciated stock that actually cost us much less than the gift amount. At other times, we simply make cash gifts. We have also planned for Samford in our wills.

I encourage anyone interested in giving to Samford to consider all their options. Visit the campus, take a look at the programs that interest you and see what options for giving Samford has to offer. You will discover a plan that works for you, just as we did. It has been rewarding for Carol and me to see the scholarship fund grow over time and become sufficient to make a difference for young people for years to come.

Gift of Appreciated Securities

George and Pat Scofield

George and Pat Scofield were the Alumni of the Year in 2000. If you get to know them, the reason is obvious. Although they have a large, close-knit family, they have always had room to be actively involved in the Samford family.

George: Pat and I are both 1949 graduates of Samford and are proud to be serving as Alumni Council agents for our class. We dated through our years at Samford and later married. Little did we know that our time at Samford would produce a lifetime of fulfilling experiences with the University. Our decision to establish and grow a fund at Samford has given us both great satisfaction in knowing that we are helping students who might not otherwise have been at Samford. Over the years, the notes from students receiving our scholarship have meant more to us than we could have ever imagined.

Pat: Both of my brothers attended Samford and were in the A Capella Choir, as was I. Today, I continue to be active in the Hypatia Cup Society and Samford Auxiliary. Since George and I have always loved music, several years ago we were asked to serve as charter members of Samford's Music Scholarship Endowment Committee.

We decided to establish the Earle and Marie Trent Music Scholarship in honor of my parents. My father was instrumental in the beginning of the Howard College Extension Department in the 1940s, and my mother began a clothes ministry for minister's families. I knew they would have been proud that George and I had started a fund to help students be able to attend Samford, especially since the fund was started with stock that passed from my grandfather to my father to me. It was meaningful to me that George and I were creating a Samford legacy by passing on a family legacy.

George: We hope some of the students who benefit from our legacy will eventually follow our example and do the same thing to create their own legacies for others. We have been able to add to our fund every year since it was started and are delighted to see that it has grown substantially. It is especially fulfilling that we continue to use stock that Pat's father left her when he died.

Pat: Appreciated stock is called a "tax-wise" gift because we give the current market value even though the value of the stock was much lower when it was given to me. We get a tax deduction for the current value and don't have to pay taxes on the appreciation in value.

Each year, I just call my financial advisor and tell him how much stock we want to give to Samford. He contacts Samford's Director of Gift Planning, who provides the information for the gift to be made electronically.

I encourage anyone who has appreciated assets to consider using those assets for a gift. It is a perfect way to do more with your gift.