Legacy planning is critical for the future of Kingdom work, says Barry Whitworth

Barry: We learned some amazing things today. So, just real quickly, one of the things we learned is there is a percentage of people out there, Chuck, that haven’t even thought about what they’re going to do next about what God has entrusted in their care. What is that?

Chuck: Well, the statistics say, according to the government, 70% of the people that died have no plan whatsoever. They have no will, no trust, no powers of attorney, which is really a misnomer because they have a plan. It’s just one that the State provides for them, which probably is not what they want. But it’s what they end up with because they don’t do something of their own.

Chuck: The other part of that is, of the 30% that have some type of a plan, 70% of them are so outdated that it’s really practically worthless. It’s really not worth much at all. And so really that’s nine or ten percent of the people in any given circumstance that actually have a plan that does what they want it to do.

Barry: We also learned that there are three areas that you’re basically going to end up giving whatever you have left over when you die, right? And what are they?

Chuck: Whatever is left will be divided into one of three places. It will either go to family and friends; it’ll go to the government, in some type of taxes or fees; or it could go to ministry. And you have a choice you can make. You can eliminate one of those, and based on my experience, most of the people have the same one that they want to eliminate or minimize.

Barry: Now, we heard a story this morning about a woman named Miss Betty. And you shared how through what she was leaving and her estate how it not only benefited the family, but it also benefited ministry. Could you share with us real quick?

Chuck: Sure! Betty’s an example. It’s what we refer to as a “Give it Twice Trust.” It is a typical trust where people can put their resources into and rather than leaving it directly to ministry, they’re able to take a part of it every year (typically it’s 5% over a period of time where they can then have their trustee distribute that money to their kids). So, if you do five percent a year for 20 years, they still get a hundred percent, but whatever is left at the trust after the 20 years then can be left to ministry, which you decide before you die where that ministry portion goes.

Barry: That is amazing. In other words, Chuck is a resource to help us help you, churches/pastors, to have conversation on how we can be great stewards of what God has entrusted in our care and how we can leave a legacy even beyond our years here on the earth, when one day, we’re in heaven, about impacting further the gospel influence that we can have across Pennsylvania/South Jersey.

Barry: Chuck is partnering with us, in our partnership with Harvest Community Church, to come and talk with churches, with you, Pastor, and talk about legacy planning in your location and your congregation. He’s also going to be a vendor at our upcoming Accelerate Conference on October 4th. So if you’re interested in knowing more about legacy planning, reach out to the helpdesk@brnunited.org, and we’ll get you connected with Chuck, or you can come to the Accelerate Conference and talk with him, because you’ll have a vendor table there.

Barry: So Chuck, thank you for your investment of time today with us. Thank you for your investment in the Kingdom. Thank you for the conversations that you will have in the future that will help us to be better stewards so the gospel can move forth across Pennsylvania/South Jersey. Thanks for listening in today and may God bless you!

For more information, visit online at brnunited.org/legacy.