Life insurance is often overlooked and underestimated, yet it can be a valuable and financially efficient way of making a planned gift to the IRC. A charitable gift of life insurance is a wonderful way to use policies that will not be needed to protect a spouse or child (i.e. policies representing "excess" coverage) to save the lives of refugees.

The IRC accepts various types of life insurance gifts, including:

• - Naming the IRC as a beneficiary of an existing life insurance policy.
• - Donating an existing life insurance policy to the IRC.
• - Purchasing a new life insurance policy for the IRC.

Donating an Existing Life Insurance Policy to the IRC
If you have a life insurance policy that does not require additional premium payments (i.e. a "paid-up" policy), you might wish to donate it to the IRC. By irrevocably assigning ownership of the policy to a qualified nonprofit institution like the IRC, you make a completed charitable gift. Since the policy no longer belongs to you, you can take an income tax charitable deduction equal to the lesser of the replacement value of the policy or your cost basis in the policy.

A gift of a policy that is not fully paid up would entitle you to an income tax deduction for the lesser of the interpolated terminal reserve (plus the proportionate part of the gross premium last paid before the gift that covers the period extending beyond the date of donation) and your cost basis in the policy. The interpolated terminal reserve is usually slightly more than the cash surrender value of the policy. In both instances, your gift would be deductible up to 50% of your adjusted gross income, with a five-year carryover for any excess.

If you continue to make premium payments on the policy, you will receive a tax deduction for the payments. After your lifetime, the donated policy would be excluded from your estate and be fully deductible for estate tax purposes.

Purchasing a New Policy for the IRC
You can also decide to purchase a new life insurance policy, designate the IRC as beneficiary and assign ownership to the IRC. Whether you make one single premium payment or pay premiums over a number of years, your deduction in the first year will be the gross amount of the premium paid in that year. Payments made in additional years would result in additional income tax deductions.

Naming the IRC as a Beneficiary of a Life Insurance Policy
You can also name the IRC as a beneficiary (full or % interest) of a permanent life insurance policy. You would simply do this on the beneficiary designation form provided by your life insurance company. Since you are not irrevocably assigning ownership of the policy to the IRC, you would not receive a tax deduction for your gift; however, you would receive an estate tax deduction for the amount that would ultimately pass to the IRC.

We would be happy to work with you to structure a gift of life insurance for the benefit of the IRC. To request a personal conversation about planned giving, please e-mail plannedgiving@theIRC.org  or call Nora Benoliel, Senior National Officer for Gift Planning, 212-551-3147.