This National Make-A-Will Month, Leave a Legacy of Compassion

At the Center for Animal Law Studies (CALS), we’re devoted to building a better future for animals. Just imagine a future in which their rights are respected and protected by the law. Legacy giving is a meaningful way to support our goal and vision, and invest in the next generation of animal law advocates. It’s about making a commitment to animal protection that will continue to make a difference beyond your lifetime.

August is National Make-A-Will Month, so there’s no better time to consider how you can include CALS in your estate plans. Including CALS in your will is more than just a financial decision; it’s a powerful statement about the world for animals you want to help us create. As a self-funded Center within Lewis & Clark Law School, CALS depends on friends and supporters who share our vital mission to advance animal law through education and advocacy. You can create a lasting impact for animals through our Animal Law Legacy Program.

The Benefits of Planned Giving

Planned giving offers the opportunity to build the future you want to see, but it also has numerous other benefits for you and CALS:

• Financial stability: Planned gifts will help us to ensure that CALS is financially stable, especially during economically challenging times.
• Peace of mind: For donors, legacy gifts can bring a deep sense of fulfillment, knowing that you’ll continue to make a positive, tangible impact that extends well beyond your lifetime.
• Tax benefits: There are potential tax benefits to legacy gifts, including savings on income and estate taxes. These allow you to maximize your future impact while benefiting financially right now.
• Flexibility: If your situation changes, many planned giving options allow you to make adjustments and ensure your giving evolves with your circumstances.

Joyce Tischler’s Legacy: The Mother of Animal Law

Lewis & Clark Law Professor Joyce Tischler, affectionately known as the “mother of animal law,” has spent over 40 years building and working in the field. Starting as a young lawyer, she decided to use her degree to fight for the animals. “[The legal landscape for animals] was a blank canvas,” she reflects. “There was nothing. There were no animal lawyers. There were no classes. There were no casebooks. We had to invent it from scratch–and we did.”

Professor Tischler worked to build a movement, and today, animal law is a rapidly growing, vibrant field. In 2019, she joined CALS as a full-time professor of practice, training the next generation of animal law advocates to continue this vital work and transform the legal system. She says of her legacy: “I want to build the future of animal law. I won’t be here forever–none of us will. We’ve laid a solid foundation, and now it’s up to the next generation to take over what we’ve started and to carry it forward,” she reflects. “I feel lucky to have been in the right place at the right time to be able to start this movement. But it takes a village … and I really am proud of what CALS is doing to create that groundswell of attorneys who will carry this work forward. I can’t think of anything more important to be doing with the remainder of my career.”

Many Ways to Give

National Make-A-Will Month offers the perfect opportunity to consider how you can contribute to a better world for all animals by investing in our mission at CALS. There are many ways to make a difference; you can read about all of them on Lewis & Clark’s “Types of Planned Gifts” page, and you can designate your gift to benefit CALS. There are also ways to give to CALS shown in this guide.

And remember: always consult your legal and financial advisor(s) to make the most informed decisions regarding legacy giving.

• Make a gift by will

Including a specific, planned gift of cash, securities, or other assets in your will or revocable trust is one of the most popular types of legacy gifts. It’s easy to make a bequest to CALS and costs nothing during your lifetime. Plus, you have the flexibility to adjust your gift if circumstances change.

• Name CALS as a beneficiary

You can designate CALS as a life insurance policy beneficiary or a beneficiary of a portion of your retirement account. This type of gift is simple to make and, as a bonus, can provide potential income and estate tax benefits.

• Establish a life-income gift

With gift annuities and charitable remainder trusts, you can support CALS while earning income. You can fund payments with cash, securities, or other property, and then begin to receive payments right away (or defer them). Your life-income gift will train tomorrow’s animal rights attorneys while generating tax savings for you.

• Give a gift of assets

While cash gifts are simple and deeply appreciated, you can also give gifts of stocks, bonds, real estate, and other property. These provide charitable deductions and other savings.

“We often don’t think of our lives in that way, but each of us has our legacy,” Joyce concludes. “My legacy is teaching passionate law students who are going to commit their lives to protecting animals, and your legacy can be helping us to do that through your estate planning. This can be our legacy together.”

The Center for Animal Law Studies (CALS) was founded in 2008 with a mission to educate the next generation of animal law advocates and advance animal protection through the law. With vision and bold risk-taking, CALS has since developed into a world-renowned animal law epicenter. CALS’ Alumni-in-Action from 30 countries are making a difference for animals around the world. CALS is a self-funded center within Lewis & Clark Law School operating under the Lewis & Clark College 501(c)(3) tax exemption, and is able to provide these educational opportunities through donations and grants.