• Retain control over assets during your lifetime
• Save on federal estate taxes
• Leave a legacy
• Revoke the gift if your financial circumstances change

Bequest Language

"I give (________ dollars or ________ percent or all of the residue of my estate) to the President and Fellows of Harvard College, a Massachusetts educational, charitable corporation, for the benefit of Harvard Medical School (optional to benefit research or scholarship or medical education)."

Is HMS already part of your estate plan? Click here to tell us about it.

Read about someone who made a bequest.

Bequests can be structured in several ways

Specific bequest

HMS receives a specific dollar amount or specific assets, such as securities, real estate, or tangible personal property (e.g., works of art, antiques, etc.).

Residuary bequest

HMS receives all, or a percentage of, the remainder of your estate after the payment of any specific bequests and all estate-related expenses.

Contingent bequest

HMS receives the bequest only in the event of the death of the other beneficiary(ies).

Testamentary QTIP Trust

The trust provides income, and principal if needed, to your spouse for life, after which the assets pass to HMS.

Testamentary Life Income Gift

Fund a life income gift using a bequest and generate income for one or more heirs for life, after which the assets pass to HMS.

Testamentary Charitable Lead Trust

Establish a charitable lead trust through a bequest, provide income to the School for a set term, and then pass the assets to your heirs.

To learn more, please contact

Mary Moran Perry
Senior Director of Gift Planning
(617) 384-8449 or (800) 922-1782
mary_perry@hms.harvard.edu