Create a Legacy

Norlands - Create a Legacy

Planned gifts are a meaningful way to provide for the Norlands and preserve the Washburn legacy. You can help ensure the future of the Norlands by including the Washburn Norlands Foundation in your estate plans.  Creating a trust while you are living or including the Foundation in your will are two creative and flexible options for supporting the Norlands.  This requires no outlay of financial resources while alive, and the long-term benefits of such foresight are immeasurable. 
 
Join the Washburn Society
The Washburn Society honors those people who have told us of their plans to leave a legacy through the Washburn Norlands Foundation.  Your generosity will live on, leaving a legacy to those who come after you.

Norlands is the place where leaders were born. The magnificent granite and slate family library, built in 1883 to honor Israel and Patty Washburn, is a memorial to the family and a testament to the family’s enduring values. Housed within its walls are the family’s journals, manuscripts, photographs, letters, diaries, artifacts and portraits of family members and their contemporaries. The collections speak to their involvement in the Civil War era, abolition, westward expansion, commercial developments, and international diplomatic relations. This humanities collection is an invaluable resource that documents the varied and remarkable achievements of this accomplished family of leaders of the 19th century. 
 
  “They [Washburn Brothers] were good for each other. Together, they started – and finished – a revolution that changed the nation forever, and opened up a horizon of undreamed-of potential.” 
                     
(Kerck Kelsey in an article Lincoln and the Washburns, 2011)
  
The Washburn story validates, for anyone growing up in poverty or facing adversity, that a bright future is attainable from wherever you begin. At Norlands, the Washburn family legacy comes alive, and connects the issues of the past to the challenges of today. At Norlands you walk where the Washburns walked, see the same views that inspired them, enter original buildings that heard their voices, toil in the same fields, and find inspiration in original family letters, documents, and photographs housed in the library.

​The Washburn Library is the place where people of all ages can reflect on the traits and values which enabled the Washburn brothers individually and as a family to have such a positive lasting impact on America and the communities they lived in.

One of the simplest ways to support the preservation of the Washburn brothers’ legacy and the Norlands long after you are gone is to include a provision in your will that a share of your estate will be distributed to the Washburn Norlands Foundation. 
 
Review bequest options below or call or email our Foundation Board member, Tayloe Washburn, at 206-419-3878 or tayloe.washburn@norlands.org, to talk about options.
                                                          
You may have planned your estate through a revocable trust instead of a will.  A transfer to the Washburn-Norlands Foundation from your trust will bring you the same tax and planning benefits as a bequest from a will. 
 
Your bequest or trust distribution to us will reduce the value of your estate for federal estate tax purposes.  It may also be exempt from state inheritance taxes.
 
SOME OPTIONS FOR YOUR BEQUEST
 
While we provide some general examples below, for illustrative purposes only, always check with your lawyer handling your will/trust/estate on the specific language which works best in the state you live in.
 
Specific bequest example: “I bequeath twenty thousand ($20,000) dollars [or all my xxxx stock] to the Washburn Norlands Foundation, a Maine non-profit organization located in Livermore, Maine
 
Residuary bequest example: “I bequeath Ten Percent (10%) of the residue of my estate to the Washburn Norlands Foundation”, a Maine non-profit organization located in Livermore, Maine
 
Contingent bequest example: “If my nephew does not survive me or is unable to inherit this bequest, I direct that it be paid to the Washburn Norlands Foundation, a Maine non-profit organization located in Livermore, Maine
  
The specific purpose request:  Members of the Washburn family tree may wish to restrict the use of their bequest for either the preservation of the Washburn Library located at the Norlands or some alternate feature of the Norlands. This is an alternative to an unconditional bequest, which can be used at the Foundation’s discretion for the overall historic preservation and education purposes of the Norlands. 
 
An example of suggested wording to make a specific purpose bequest: “I give and bequeath to the Washburn Norlands Foundation in Livermore, Maine, the sum of $_____________ to establish the Washburn Library Fund, the net income of which is to be used for the preservation of the structure and family records contained within, for future generations and researchers.”  

Please speak with your financial planner or lawyer to determine which option is right for you. 

​And let us know if we may include you as a charter member in the Washburn Society.
 
For more information, please contact Tayloe Washburn, our Foundation Board member, at 206-419-3878 or tayloe.washburn@norlands.org.
 
The Washburn-Norlands Foundation, Inc. is a 501c3 non-profit organization.