Inheritance

The future need remembrance

Often one mentions the legacy that the murdered persons of the Shoah have left us, a legacy not to keep secret the crimes of history and to prevent that they happen again. Action Reconciliation Service for Peace has the duty to continue this legacy and to turn this into concrete acts: with peace service in countries which have been invaded by Germany, in Israel and in the United States, and lastly Germany. Therefore Action Reconciliation has been actively involved with more than 10,000 volunteers over 40 years in memorial centers and in Jewish communities, in refugee projects, in homeless initiatives, in retirement homes, and with Sinti and Romanies. This is with the conviction that the future is remembrance.

Uncountable biographies of young people have been changed long-term through the possibility to deal with the traditions, fractures, and with the legacy left to them; they work concretely for a better future.

The legacy has several aspects; it can be a commitment, but also a chance to help. One gives the next generation something that was important for him or her, that he or she believed or worked on or one gives something that he or she did not achieve. It is the chance to "instigate" something meaningful and valuable after his or her lifetime.

Maybe you have thought about supporting something which could carry on your ideas and aims over generations. Action Reconciliation Service for Peace has received often in the past inheritance donations. In discussions we have discovered that the knowledge of judicial possibilities to make a bequest is quite limited.

Maybe the information on this page will be a simulation to think about the things you worked for in your life to be continued and developed into the future. A donation in the form of a bequest or endowment would be very valuable, regardless of the amount, for Action Reconciliation Service for Peace, because it is in personal form the most personal support one can give. A bequest!

A bequest gives the chance to give your own values and ideals to the next generation and to let developed further. Such a gift is something very individual for which someone can find many forms and types.

I. Gift

A gift is similar to giving a donation. It can be done for a certain use, certain time period in the future or tied to a certain event (for example the paying out of an insurance sum).
 

II. A legacy

A legacy is a set as exactly defined part of an inheritance, without the receiver of the legacy being considered as an heir of the inheritance. Therefore, the legacy is not complicated at all to deal with. Also the bequest and be made to fulfill certain conditions, for example for a certain aim or for a group of persons.

III. Contributing to a Foundation

Contributing to a foundation is the easiest and most non-bureaucratic way to be involved in a foundation. Action Reconciliation Service for Peace founded the Helga Weckerling Foundation in 2000. The goal of this foundation is peace service in Central and Eastern Europe. To increase the current capital of the foundation of 80,000 EUR, we are requesting contributions starting at 5.000 EUR.

After the new foundation law, which has been valid since January 1, 2000,  donations up to 20,000 EUR can be deducted from taxes. It is important that the money goes towards the capital reserve.

With your contribution to the Helga Weckerling Foundation you help ensure that the Shoah survivors in Prague can be cared for, school groups can be accompanied at memorial center visits in Auschwitz, and the human rights and remembrance work at Memorial in Moscow can be further developed.

IV. Establishing a Foundation

Action Reconciliation Peace Service can also without the trouble of red tape set up other (in a legal sense) dependent foundations. A foundation can only use the money from the capital reserve for uses allowed by the founder of the foundation.  Therefore the capital is kept and the will of the founder can be carried through. Often the name of the foundation is of the founder of a person who is to be remembered.

If you have decided to start your own foundation, you can (above the yearly 20,000 EUR) donate 300,000 EUR further in the first year and deduct this over a period of 10 years. We offer you the opportunity to establish your own foundation under the roof of Action Reconciliation Service of Peace. This type of dependent foundation has the guidelines set by you and is different from an independent foundation only in the way of the foundation application process and the resulting administrative work.
 

V. Will

With a will you remove the force of the moral legal inheritance laws and you can individually decide who will be receiving the inheritance. With this a simple sentence is often enough, (Daneben vermache ich einen Anteil aus meinem Erbe von EUR . . . . . . . an Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste in Berlin (zur Verwendung für ...). (I bequest a part of my inheritance to Action Reconciliation Service for Peace to the amount of ... EUR [for the use of ..]) If you have second thoughts to write or keep a will by yourself we would advice you to seek a notary public. The fees for a notary public are comparatively small and one avoids mistakes and arguments later.

Also the direct relatives have a right for half of the inheritance even if a will has been written. The spouse receives 25 %, the children 25% (divided up between the number of children) and the grandchildren receive 12.5%. These inheritance rights take priorities over gifts and legacies.

All gifts, legacies, foundation funds, and inheritances are free from inheritance tax, when a non/profit organization such as Action Reconciliation Service for Peace is the receiver. Otherwise, according to the degree of relationship and the amount of the inheritance there are inheritance taxes from 12 to 40%.