Wills and Estate Plans

A carefully prepared will or estate plan is the best way to ensure that your loved ones are provided for after your death, and that your preferred charities are supported as you intend. Such plans allow you to retain full use of your assets during your lifetime and still make a significant gift to University of the Pacific. They are technical documents that should therefore be drafted by an attorney, but they may be revised and updated whenever you like, as your wishes and circumstances change.

• Types of Gifts
• Specific Bequest
• Residuary Bequest
• Contingent Bequest
• Trust Under Will
• Bequest Language
• Appreciation and Recognition

Types of Gifts

By far the most common means of making a charitable gift is through a personal trust or will. It’s no wonder: such gifts allow you to contribute to University of the Pacific at a level you might never have managed during your lifetime.

Your bequest can take a variety of forms. Here are a few samples for you to consider.

Specific Bequest

The most popular type of charitable bequest, a specific bequest provides that Pacific receives a specific dollar amount, percentage of your estate, or piece of property.

Residuary Bequest

A residuary bequest provides that Pacific receives all or a stated portion of your estate after all other bequests, debts, taxes, and expenses have been distributed.

Contingent Bequest

A contingent bequest can ensure that if circumstances make it impossible to carry out your primary provisions (as when your spouse or other heirs do not survive you), your assets will then pass to Pacific rather than to unintended beneficiaries.

Trust Under Will

You can bequeath a portion of your estate to be held in trust for a specified purpose, as stated in your will.

Bequest Language

Because Pacific is the official entity for receiving and administering gifts, please incorporate the following language into your will:

“I give, devise, and bequeath the (sum of/percentage of/residue of my estate) to University of the Pacific, a not-for-profit corporation with principal offices located in Stockton, California to be utilized for the benefit of the University as specified in a gift agreement on file at said Pacific.”

Appreciation and Recognition

If you decide to include a gift for the benefit of University of the Pacific in your will, we invite and encourage you to let the University know about your decision ahead of time, for several reasons. First, so you can complete a gift agreement and ensure that there will be no question as to how your gift will be used. Second, so that Pacific can make note of the gift as we plan for the future. And finally, so that we may recognize your generosity and show our appreciation, if you so desire, by including you in the roster of major donors to University of the Pacific and as a member of our Heritage Society.

Giving to Pacific Guide to Giving Outright Gifts Life Income Plans Wills and Estate Plans Other Planned Gift Arrangements