Your Legacy for Your Westies
By Ed Sheldon
Fall 2005, NEWS
The Westie Foundation of America
(WFA) has placed a series of
articles in our recent newsletters
on its “Legacy Alliance” program.
As most of you already know, this
program deals exclusively with
your Will and the Bequest possibilities
that your Will has to help
our Westies into the future. We
plan on three more articles dealing
with WFA’s “Legacy Alliance”
program in the next three newsletters.
We hope you read them and
give serious thought to remembering
our Westies in your Will.
What follows is additional important
information relevant to
assuring that YOU decide what
happens to your estate, as opposed
to the government making
that decision.
The transfer of property is obviously
one of the primary functions
of a will. Traditionally, a transfer
of personal property was called a
bequest, a transfer of money was
called a legacy, and a transfer of
real property was called a devise.
These terms are now used interchangeably
and all are referred to
as bequests. Various types of
bequests may be used in wills, eg:
SPECIFIC BEQUEST is a gift of a
specific item to a specific beneficiary.
For example: “I give my
grand piano to my daughter
Karen.” If that specific property
has been disposed of before death,
the bequest fails.
GENERAL BEQUEST is a gift of a
stated sum of money. It will not
fail, even if there is not sufficient
cash to meet the bequest. For
example: “I give $25,000 to my
son John.” If there is only $2,500
cash in the estate, other assets
must be sold to meet the bequest.
CONTINGENT BEQUEST is a
bequest made on condition that a
certain event must occur before
distribution to the beneficiary. For
example: “I give $50,000 to my son
James, provided he enrolls in
college before age 21.” A contingent
bequest is specific in nature
and fails if the condition is not met.
RESIDUARY BEQUEST is a gift of
all the “rest, residue, and remainder”
of the testator’s estate after
all other bequests, debts, and
taxes have been paid. One who
owns property worth $500,000
may intend to give a child $50,000
by specific bequest and leave
$450,000 to a spouse through a
residuary bequest. If the debts,
taxes and expenses were $100,000
there would only be $350,000 left
for the surviving spouse.
A will assures your desires will be
carried out. Please consider being
an important benefactor in the
future good life for the West
Highland White Terrier. The
Westie breed, like the human race,
will live on after all of us. . . so also
will the WFA Endowment Fund.
For further information, see the Legacy Alliance link here.
PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THE
LAWS PERTAINING TO WILLS
AND ESTATES DIFFER FROM
STATE TO STATE. BEFORE
FINALIZING YOUR GIFT, CONSULT
A LICENSED ATTORNEY
EXPERIENCED IN THE LAWS
PERTAINING TO ESTATE
PLANNING.
| 
