Retained Life Estate

By Stephanie N. Grimoldby

Even before her husband lost his life in a Montana white-water rafting accident, Elizabeth Storm had an idea of what to do with their property in Cook, Minn., after they passed.

The native Minnesotan and lifelong Lutheran had discussed with her husband, Gerald “Jerry” Storm, several ideas for their roughly 7.5 acres and the 100-plus-year-old farmhouse in which they lived.

Their relatives — Jerry’s children from his first marriage, Elizabeth’s nieces and nephews, and Elizabeth’s younger sister — were all very well settled, but the couple still wanted to gift the property to someone who could benefit from it, Elizabeth Storm said.

A conversation with Bruce Garbisch, a friend, colleague and member of their congregation, Trinity Lutheran, in Cook, helped settle her heart.

“We were talking about what we were going to do with our properties,” said Storm. “[Bruce] and his wife were thinking about the ELCA Foundation.”

One option ELCA members have when it comes to thinking about end-of-life gifts is a retained life estate, said Tharan Leopold, a regional gift planner for the ELCA Foundation who serves the southeastern Minnesota Synod and northeast Minnesota Synod.

“A retained life estate is essentially when you deed your personal residence or farm or ranch to the ELCA Foundation now,” Leopold said. “That’s what Elizabeth did: she had it deeded to the ELCA Foundation. She has the right to occupy the home for the remainder of her life — she continues to pay taxes, maintenance and upkeep, and insurance — and then after her lifetime (or the lifetime of the spouse or another person they choose to retain the rights to the home), once she passes away, the ELCA Foundation [will] take possession of the property.”

The Foundation will work with a real estate agent to sell the property, and Storm has a distribution agreement on file that specifies percentages and beneficiaries of the sale of the property, Leopold said.

“I’m really pretty happy with the idea that someone, somewhere, is going to benefit from this property,” Storm said. “And the piece that I have benefited from would be a tax deduction.”

Being able to choose which charities will benefit from the eventual sale of property is a big draw for those considering retained life estates, Leopold said.

“I think it gives people a sense of ease knowing that when that time comes in their lives, when they do pass away, it’s going to benefit the charities and ministries that are important to them,” Leopold said. “That certainly was Elizabeth’s case. She essentially wanted it all to be completed now while she’s still alive.”

Storm has determined that the proceeds of her property will go toward several ELCA organizations — including ELCA World Hunger, Lutheran Disaster Response, ELCA Fund for Leaders and her home congregation — along with Global Refuge (formerly Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service), Planned Parenthood and Doctors Without Borders.

“It’s important that people in the world, all people, have what they need to live peacefully and to live well, and unfortunately, that’s not happening in many places,” she says. “And of course, hunger is very important to eliminate if we possibly can do that. Most of my life I’ve had plenty to eat, and I know it’s so very hard for people to not have enough to eat. So, World Hunger is big in my heart.”

Storm says she is alive today because Planned Parenthood helped her discover she had cancer at the age of 26, so that organization also is near and dear to her heart.

“And how could you not contribute to Doctors Without Borders?” she asked. “They’re all over the world, [helping] children or adults.”

Working with Storm was a “delightful experience” because of her upbeat attitude, her forward-thinking process in terms of getting things done and her strong support of ELCA ministries, Leopold said.

Storm maintains that her strong faith is what got her through her husband’s unexpected death and is the reason she wants to benefit the ELCA after her own passing.

“I always sent him off into the wilderness because he would say, ‘I just gotta go sleep in a tent,’” Storm said. “He’d take off, and I always sent him off knowing that God would be taking care of him, and God did. Always.

“We have had such a blessed life, and I am very grateful, and I just want to pass that on.”

Leave Your Legacy

If you want to join Elizabeth and discover beneficial ways to support the ELCA causes and ministries you care about deeply, contact Josh Kerney at 773-380-2774 or giftplanning@elca.org to speak to a gift planner today.