Communicate your legacy
What you need to create or update your will or trust
“He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”
Proverbs 11:25
One of the best ways to steward the resources entrusted to you is to have an up-to-date will or trust. Discover practical tools to help you create an estate plan that reflects your personal values, provides for your loved ones, and blesses charities like MAF, which are close to your heart.
Attend An Event
Make a Will Online
Self-Paced Videos
MAF has taken steps to make it simple for you to create a trust at no out-of-pocket costs. MAF partners with Financial Planning Ministry (FPM), a nonprofit organization that provides estate planning services including the drawing up of revocable living trusts. FPM has successfully assisted more than 40,000 members of the Christian community for 40 years, including many MAF staff and supporters.
There is no cost to you because MAF pays for the service on your behalf. FPM simply asks you to consider leaving a modest percentage gift from your estate to one of their ministry partners like MAF.
Find out how to create a trust through FPM by signing up for one of our live Wills & Trusts Educational Seminars or Webinars. Click here to see the schedule.
MAF has taken steps to make it simple for you to create a will at no out-of-pocket costs. Most people can create an online will in less than 30 minutes. If you already know that you want a will (and not a trust) click here to create your will online.
There is no cost to you because MAF pays for the service on your behalf. Please consider leaving a modest percentage gift from your estate to MAF.
As a part of MAF’s partnership with Financial Planning Ministry (FPM), we also offer a series of 6 short on-demand video modules you can complete at your own pace when it is convenient for you.
Step 1: Watch the video modules on estate planning
Step 2: Schedule a consultation with MAF’s estate consultant
Step 3: Complete an estate planning guide
Step 4: Follow-up meeting with MAF’s estate consultant
Step 5: Sit back and let FPM prepare your estate planning documents
There is no cost to you because MAF pays for the service on your behalf. FPM simply asks you to consider leaving a modest percentage gift from your estate to one of their ministry partners like MAF.
Register now and begin the process of creating the right plan for you and your family.
Use Event Code MAFLEGACY
If you decide to use a lawyer to create, update, or review your will, you’ll want to find an attorney who shares your values and is knowledgeable about estate planning. Here’s how to find a trusted estate planning attorney:
Christian Legal Society. Search for a referral to an attorney in your area from the Christian Legal Society, a network of attorneys committed to acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with their God (Micah 6:8).
Your Pastor. Pastors are connected to a wide network of people which may include an estate planning attorney. Even if your pastor doesn’t know an attorney, they can likely ask others for a trusted referral to send you.
Use one of these common ways to significantly increase your charitable impact through your will and clearly communicate your values:
• Add a child named “Charity.” Some families treat charitable organizations like an additional child. For example, if a family has three children, they might add a fourth child named “Charity” and divide the assets in their will into four equal parts. Each of their children would receive 25%, and the remaining 25% would be divided among their favorite charitable organizations.
• Percentage. Others commit a percentage of their estate to the charitable organizations they love, dividing the remainder among their heirs.
• Cap. Some families decide to “cap” their children’s inheritance, leaving the rest of their assets to charity. This approach is used when the parents want to provide a modest gift to bless their children and eliminate concerns of creating dependence or giving too much too soon.
• Update an existing will. An attorney can add, delete, or change an item in your will with an additional statement called a “codicil.” Here’s an example: “I give, devise, and bequeath twenty- five percent (25%) of my residuary estate to [charity name] whose address is [city, state, zip code].” Like a will, a codicil must be dated, signed, and witnessed.
Sample language for including a gift in your will is available here.