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Retained Life Estate

A retained life estate

Donate your home to IU and continue to live there for the rest of your life. A retained life estate allows you to make an important gift now, enjoy a significant tax deduction, and live in the home for as long as you choose. Retained life estates work well for vacation and rental properties, or for farmland. You continue to use the property and remain responsible for its ongoing care and maintenance. If you will need the proceeds from the sale for long-term care costs, this may not be a good option because it is irrevocable. In this case, you may consider a transfer on death deed, which greatly simplifies your estate yet can be updated if your situation changes.

What a gift of real estate can help you accomplish

Consider your time

  • Alleviate the burden of upkeep or selling a property yourself.
  • Simplify your estate and the management of your current home.

Consider your finances

  • Become eligible for a federal income tax deduction equal to the full fair market value of the property.
  • Potentially eliminate capital gains tax on your property’s appreciation.

Consider your IU legacy

  • Make an immediate, significant gift to IU.

“Our wish was to make the estate process easier on our daughters long-term, while still retaining a current life estate. We are comforted knowing the IU Foundation will work with our estate representatives to ensure the personal property in our home finds its way to those designated in our estate plan and that the remainder will be maximized for the academic initiatives we support at IU.”
–Millard & Wendy Lesch

Millard & Wendy Lesch established a gift using a retained life estate on a vacation home to benefit the Maurer School of Law for generations to come.

How it works

Make a gift to IU through a retained life estate

  • Let your IU development officer know that you’re considering a gift of real estate. Our team can guide you through some considerations and help you choose the best option for your situation and goals.
  • When you’re ready to take the next steps with a retained life estate, we will help you secure a qualified appraisal for your property, a cost for which you will be responsible.
  • We will develop a retained life estate agreement including a new deed that will show the home is yours for life and that the IU Foundation has ownership after.
  • The IU Foundation will provide you and your tax advisor with the tax forms and illustrations you will need for your tax benefits.
  • You can continue to live in your home or use your property for as long as you wish. You remain responsible for upkeep, taxes and other expenses during this time.
  • When you surrender the home, the IU Foundation will become the sole owner of the home and will ready the property to be sold.
  • The net proceeds will be used to fund the cause you’ve designated.