Charitable bequests offer a flexible way to support the university while maintaining access to your funds in case you need them. Bequests can help you achieve your personal and financial goals while providing vital support for the Duke students, faculty, departments, and programs that matter most to you. Two of the most common charitable bequest […]

Duke University School of Nursing (DUSON) alumna Bettye Martin Musham has committed $8 million to the School. Her gift is the second-largest donation by an individual in the School’s history and the largest ever for faculty, students, and programs. Musham’s gift, via her estate, allots $5 million to endow the William and Bettye Martin Musham […]

It’s been a while since Jim Vogeley threw a television off the roof of a building. These days, he’s interested in quietly helping fix problems rather than spectacularly breaking things. The TV stunt, which was his contribution to the engineering school’s version of the classic egg-drop challenge, was admittedly a one-time thing — just college […]

August is typically the month we think of as the end of summer: back to school, freshman move-in days, last vacations. Looking ahead and planning for the next season is a reminder to update your estate plan or create a will if you don’t have one already. A will is an important estate document that […]

Have you heard about the Duke 100 Challenge? For the first time in Duke’s history, there is a matching challenge for planned gifts and the opportunity to support Duke today and tomorrow. As of April 2023, 10% of a new planned gift established in your estate or retirement plan will be matched with current-use funds […]

Thoughtful estate planning is important if we want to provide for the people and causes we truly care about in life. The process includes terms – such as will, revocable (“living”) trust, and Beneficiary Designation/Payable on Death/Transfer on Death forms – that may not be familiar to everyone. In this article, we hope to help […]

Naming Duke as a beneficiary of my will or retirement account is a complicated process. Gifts made through a will or retirement account are among the simplest, most straightforward ways to leave a lasting legacy at Duke. With only a couple of sentences in your will, you can designate a percentage of your estate (or […]

Together, William W. Johnston, MD’59, and Charles R. West have a more than half a century of combined service to Duke University. To be in their presence is to be regaled by one astonishing and often hilarious story after another. And yet they say their most recent undertaking—establishing an estate gift that will endow a […]

When you created your estate plan, you considered how your bank accounts, real estate, investment and retirement assets, and liabilities should be managed at the time of your passing. You named an executor of your will, a guardian for your minor children, and even provided for generous donations to charity. Your estate plan is complete. Or […]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, growing numbers of American couples are deciding to cohabitate rather than marry. While this choice is personal and valid, it is also important to understand what legal and financial risks you may be taking by choosing not to marry. This Fidelity article addresses common financial and estate planning issues […]