Rethinking legacy

Balancing gifts to heirs with the community’s future

Next time you meet with your estate planning attorney, it may be a good idea to check in on your long-term plans and ask yourself questions you might not yet have considered. What do you want your wealth to make possible for your family? What do you want it to make possible for your community?

For example, planners are reporting that more clients are reconsidering an automatic estate distribution to heirs. Instead, their clients are evaluating what type of legacies make the most sense and working hard to prepare children and grandchildren to receive that wealth. Times are changing, and regular, careful estate plan reviews with your advisors are more important than ever.

For many Idahoans, legacy planning is not only about how assets are distributed. It is also about values, place, and the future we want to help build. That is the heart of Dream Big for Idaho, the Idaho Community Foundation’s invitation to think intentionally about how even a small portion of an estate can strengthen the communities and causes we care about most.

Here are three interesting emerging themes:

They don’t need it or want it.

Sometimes it makes good financial sense for heirs to disclaim inheritances from their parents. Heirs can sometimes benefit from refusing an inheritance, allowing assets (especially tax-heavy ones like traditional IRAs) to pass to contingent beneficiaries in a more tax-efficient way*. Legal disclaimers provide post-death flexibility for families to adjust estate plans in response to current circumstances, though they must be executed carefully to comply with strict rules.

Strategic giving leads to local giving.

High net worth donors are becoming more intentional and strategic in their charitable giving, focusing on outcomes, alignment with personal values, and long-term impact rather than making purely reactive or broad-based donations. Alongside these changes is a growing preference for supporting local organizations, as donors increasingly want to see the direct effects of their contributions within their own communities.

Dream Big for Idaho builds on that instinct. It asks Idahoans to imagine what is possible if more wealth stays rooted here, supporting local decision-making, community-led solutions, and the nonprofits that care for our neighbors. Many of Idaho’s challenges will not be solved by short-term funding alone. Permanent, flexible, locally controlled philanthropic capital can help communities respond to changing needs year after year.

Hands-on local involvement and proactive planning go hand in hand.

Donors using donor-advised funds are particularly locally focused, as evidenced by volunteering statistics. These donors are significantly more likely to volunteer their time (especially within their own communities) demonstrating deeper, hands-on engagement with the organizations they support. This combination of higher volunteerism and frequent giving suggests that donor-advised fund donors are not only more active philanthropically but also more personally connected to local causes and community impact.

That personal connection is where legacy planning becomes powerful. A charitable gift in a will, trust, retirement account, beneficiary designation, or other estate plan can help support the causes you love for generations. It does not have to replace gifts to family. Instead, it can be part of a balanced plan that honors loved ones and reflects the places, values, and organizations that shaped your life.

If you are ready to explore what this could look like, the Idaho Community Foundation can help. Our team works with you and your advisors to structure a charitable giving plan, including a Donor Advised Fund, cause-specific fund, Legacy Fund, Designated Fund, and more, that supports your overall financial and estate planning goals while helping improve quality of life in Idaho for years to come.
Dream big for your family. Dream big for the causes you care about. Dream big for Idaho.

*Wall Street Journal. “When Heirs Are Right to Say ‘Thanks but No Thanks’ to an Inheritance.” (subscription required)

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