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Life Insurance

Sometimes people find themselves with life insurance policies they no longer need after the death of a spouse or after children are grown. By contributing such a policy to the DAV, you can make a wonderful gift and reduce taxes that may otherwise be due upon your death!

You can also receive a charitable-gift deduction for the cash surrender value of the policy when you give the policy to the DAV.

Gifts of Paid-Up Policies
By completing a simple change of beneficiary form, you can designate the DAV as a beneficiary of your life insurance policy. Be sure to use our legal name and address as follows: Disabled American Veterans, P.O. Box 14301, Cincinnati, OH 45250-0301.

Gifts of Percentage Interest in a Policy
You might choose to designate the DAV to receive only a partial interest (e.g., a percentage) of a life insurance policy.

Gifts of New or Partial-Paid Policies
You may also assign a partially paid policy to the DAV and keep the policy active by sending premium payments to the DAV. Or you may purchase a new policy and name the DAV as a beneficiary. All of your payments would be tax deductible if you itemize.

Gifts That Save Capital Gain
Gifts of securities can be used to cover the payments on a new or partially paid life insurance policy, with the DAV named as a beneficiary. By donating securities, capital-gain tax can be entirely eliminated.

Insurance Dividends
The dividends of a whole life insurance policy may be designated to DAV without reducing the death value of the policy for your beneficiaries. The donor, who remains the owner of the policy, retains the right to borrow against the policy.

Please note: Because the federal estate tax has been repealed for 2010, there is no current estate tax in 2010 for the gifts described on this page. However, the consensus opinion among professionals is that Congress will enact an estate-tax law that may be retroactive to January 1, 2010. It is very important that you seek the advice of your estate-planning attorney to determine what changes, if any, need to be made to your existing estate plans, and then again if Congress reinstates the estate tax sometime later this year.
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