[by Shiela Steinman Wallace]
Those who have called Louisville home for at lease five decades or more will probably have fond memories of Arthur and Esther Haskell and their son, Raymond, particularly those who attended Sunday School at Adath Jeshurun, where Esther served as principal for many years.
Raymond, who was a well respected athlete and leader when he attended Male High School, moved to Miami, FL, about 45 years ago. He built his life there, as a psychiatrist for the Department of Corrections, and about 25 years ago, he married Corinne Meyer.
Although their home was in Florida, the Haskells maintained their connection to Louisville and regularly consulted with a relative of his, Aaron Chase.
After a battle with cancer, Raymond passed away in 2000, and Chase became the trustee of his estate, which Raymond left to his wife.
When Corinne got ready to plan for her own estate, she, too, turned to Chase. She made it clear that she wanted her estate to provide regular payments to her son in New York over the years, and did not want him to receive the entire amount at one time. She decided the best way to accomplish this was through a trust, and she named Chase the trustee.
When Corinne passed away, Chase began to administer the trust according to her instructions, paying her son the agreed upon amount from the corpus of her estate. With the volatility of the stock market, he did not feel comfortable investing the money, so it sat idle, diminishing a little more with each disbursement.
After two years, Chase decided there had to be a better way to fulfill Corinne’s wishes and preserve the corpus of her estate, so he turned to the Jewish Community of Louisville for help. Working with the endowment program, a charitable remainder trust was established for Corinne Haskell.
Through the JCL’s endowment program, the money from the estate is invested with the expectation based on past performance that it will generate enough earnings to cover the regular disbursements to Corinne’s son for the rest of his life. Since the principal will not be used for the disbursements, there will always be money available to provide for the son.
When his time comes, the bulk of the estate will still be intact. According to the terms of the trust, those funds then become a charitable donation to the JCL.
Chase sees this as a win-win situation. As Corinne’s trustee, he has ensured that her wishes are fulfilled and not limited to the dollars available from the estate at the time of her death. He has also ensured that ultimately, the Jewish community will benefit from the remainder of the estate.
Have you thought about the best way to manage your assets and provide for your family? Would a charitable remainder trust work for you?
For more information about estate management, charitable remainder trusts and other financial planning alternatives to meet your personal and philanthropic goals, contact Jewish Community of Louisville Chief Financial Officer Jamie Pillsbury, 618-5303 or jpillsbury@jewishlouisville.org