We hope you will find the resources below helpful as you plan for your future and your legacy. Please contact Rev. Daniel Corpening, D.Min. at 919-660-3534 or external@div.duke.edu with any questions or for more information.

Download Our Free Planning Guides!

Our FREE Personal Estate Planning Kit is a tool for organizing your estate—saving you time, protecting your assets, and helping you establish your legacy.

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Personal Estate Planning Kit: Lesson Book

With the Lesson Book, you will learn how to set family goals and create a smart estate plan, lessen tax burdens, and use trusts to support you, your family, and loved ones.

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Personal Estate Planning Kit: Record Book

With the Record Book, you will have a tool to help you keep a digital record of important information, organize everything into one place, and easily update records.

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A Guide to Making Your Will

Direct your assets to the people and causes you care about most. Plus, learn what happens if you don't have a will.

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What to Do in the First 48 Hours When You Lose a Loved One

A guide to provide direction through grief and uncertainty.

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Bequest Language

Planning for the future and creating the legacy you wish to leave is one of the most effective ways to ensure a lasting impact. Making a gift in your will or living trust, known as a bequest, can guarantee that your legacy endures. Your gift may be a specific dollar amount, a percentage of your estate, or the remainder after all other provisions are specified.

Our federal tax ID number is: 56-0532129

Below is suggested language to use when drafting your bequest.

Unrestricted Gifts

For an unrestricted gift that allows Duke Divinity School to determine how to use the funds based on the most pressing needs, use the following language for your will and/or trust:

"I give to Duke University Divinity School, a nonprofit corporation currently located at Office of Gift Planning, Duke University, Box 90600, Durham, NC 27708, or its successor thereto, _________ [written amount or percentage of the estate or description of property] for its unrestricted charitable use and purpose."

Designated Gifts

To designate your provision for a particular purpose:

"I give to Duke University Divinity School, a nonprofit corporation currently located at Office of Gift Planning, Duke University, Box 90600, Durham, NC 27708, or its successor thereto, _________ [written amount or percentage of the estate or description of property]. This gift should be used for (state purpose) if and so long as Duke University Divinity School determines that the need exists. If Duke University Divinity School shall determine at the outset or at a later time that the need does not exist, or no longer exists, or for some reason it is not possible (or prudent) to administer my gift as originally intended, then Duke University Divinity School may, in its sole and uncontrolled discretion, direct the use of my bequest for a purpose related as closely as possible to that stated above."

Let Us Know

If you have named Duke Divinity School in your will or trust, please let us know so we can ensure that your gift is used according to your wishes. Notifying us of your plans will enable us to plan for the use of your future gift. However, if you prefer to remain anonymous, we will keep your name and gift in strict confidence.

Contact Us

Our planned giving team would be happy to speak with you in confidence, with no obligation.

Already Included Us in Your Estate Plan?