Plan a future gift
Gift in a will or trust
Naming an organization in your will or trust through your own attorney. Hope Opens does not draft documents.
Understand the route
How this gift works
A gift provision in a will or trust instructs an estate or trust to make a future distribution. Your attorney prepares the document and coordinates it with your broader plan. A current expression of intent is different from a completed gift. Whether a provision can be changed depends on the document and arrangement, not on its charitable purpose alone.
Background: American Red Cross: planned giving overview
Who does what
- You choose the intended organization and discuss your goals.
- Your attorney drafts and coordinates the legal provision.
- After death or the relevant event, the executor or trustee administers it.
These guides describe giving in the U.S. The receiving organization’s policies and your provider’s current instructions set the actual process.
Who this may fit
Anyone planning a future gift that stays revocable during life.
Before you begin
Gather these details before starting the process. You do not need to have every answer before talking with the organization.
Check off the details you have ready. This checklist stays here while this page is open.
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The route at a glance
- Ask the organization for its approved legal name and sample language.
- Work with your attorney to add or update the provision.
- Optionally let the organization know so it can thank you and plan.
From intention to confirmation
The process, step by step
Step 1 of 5
Confirm the intended recipient
Request its legal identity and any sample language for your attorney. Make sure the named entity is the organization you intend, rather than a similarly named affiliate.
Explain the goal
Discuss the gift with your attorney, including family needs, the form of gift and whether it should be contingent. Ask how a restricted purpose could be handled if circumstances change.
Prepare the legal document
Let your attorney choose the appropriate document and execution process. Do not substitute a website note or an informal donor letter for an estate provision.
Coordinate the plan
Review account beneficiary designations, property ownership and the roles of executor or trustee. Ask which assets actually pass under the document.
Keep it current
Store the executed document as your attorney recommends. You may notify the organization of your intention without sharing the full document; review after significant life or organizational changes.
These steps keep your place in the guide. Confirm progress with the organization and provider.
Make the next conversation easier.
Choose who you are speaking with. Copy these questions into your own message, or bring them to a call.
Nothing is sent from this page. Review the wording before sharing. Use the organization’s secure process for private documents.
Browse every question by contact
Ask the organization
- What legal name and identifiers should my attorney use?
- May I designate a purpose, and how flexible should it be?
Ask the provider
- Not applicable. Your attorney prepares the document.
Ask your advisor
- Percentage, specific amount, or remainder?
- Does the plan need periodic review?
Confirm it. Keep the records.
Confirm with your attorney that the intended provision is in the properly executed document. This records a future arrangement, not a completed donation today.
- The executed document and attorney’s storage instructions.
- The recipient identity used in the provision.
- Any correspondence about purpose, recognition or later revisions.
Important distinctions
- A future intention does not mean the charity has received a gift today.
- Trusts and gift arrangements can have different amendment rules. Ask your attorney what remains revocable and how changes are made.
Check the applicable rules: American Red Cross: planned giving overview
A few more useful answers
Must I share my full will with the organization?
Ask what limited information it needs to record your intention. Your attorney can help protect private information while confirming relevant language if you choose.
Should I name a percentage or a dollar amount?
Discuss both with your attorney. They respond differently to changes in estate size; Hope Opens does not choose or draft the provision.
Read the sources
Sources checked October 9, 2026. IRS references describe U.S. rules. Named organizations and providers are examples of their own processes; each organization sets its own policy.
Before acting, confirm current instructions with the recipient and relevant provider. Discuss personal tax, legal and financial questions with your own advisor.