For many alumni and friends, an estate provision is the easiest and best way to make a gift to the School.

Through your will, retirement plan, or other estate plans, you can name HMS as the beneficiary of a portion of your estate or of particular assets in your estate.

Bequests

Name Harvard Medical School as a beneficiary of your will or living trust. This is an easy way to make a gift to HMS, and you can designate it to support the area most important to you.

  • Benefits
    • Reduce or eliminate estate taxes in some instances
    • Fulfill your financial, tax, and estate goals
    • Transform the future of health and well-being
    • Create an enduring legacy at Harvard

  • How to Fund
    • Cash
    • Appreciated Securities
    • Mutual Securities
    • Real Estate
    • Personal Property
    • Closely Held Stock

  • Next Steps
    • Share the following bequest language with your attorney: “I give ( dollars or percent 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 education, research, or another priority area).” Tax Identification #04-2103580

Beneficiary Designations

A retirement account can be the most highly-taxed asset many people hold as it may be subject to both income tax when distributed as well as estate taxes. These assets make for a tax-wise gift to HMS.

If you are 72 or older, you can make a tax-free gift directly from your Individual Retirement Account (IRA) to HMS.

  • Benefits
    • Reduce or eliminate estate tax
    • Modify your beneficiary designations at any time
    • Fulfill your financial, tax, and estate goals

  • How to Fund
    • Retirement Plan Assets
    • Life Insurance
    • Bank Accounts, Certificates of Deposit, or Brokerage Accounts
    • Donor Advised Funds

  • Next Steps
    • Name HMS as a full or partial beneficiary of the remainder of your IRA, 401(k), 403(b), Keogh, tax-deferred annuity, or other qualified
      retirement plan.
    • Request a change of beneficiary form from your plan administrator and name the “President and Fellows of Harvard College, for the benefit of Harvard Medical School” as a beneficiary, along with the percentage you would like HMS to receive.

Retained Life Estate

Transfer your property to HMS and continue to live in it for your lifetime and that of your spouse. You qualify for an immediate income tax deduction, and the property is removed from your estate for tax purposes.

Donor Spotlight

Bequest Intention

Douglas Zipes, MD ’64, and Joan Zipes

"Attending schools like Dartmouth and HMS would have been unattainable without the scholarship and financial aid I received. Now I want to give back and help the next generation realize their dreams of attending medical school."

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Donor Spotlight

Beneficiary Designation

David Nathan, MD ’55

"Giving to HMS is a philanthropic priority because I owe my career to HMS and its affiliates."

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Donor Spotlight

Bequest Intention

Martin Mihm Jr., MD

“My gift reassures me that I have some part in the future and excellence of Harvard Medical School."

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Ezekiel Hersey Council Wordmark

Please let us know if you have included HMS in your estate plans so we can celebrate you as a member of the Ezekiel Hersey Council, which recognizes those who have made legacy gifts to HMS.