Throughout their marriage, Rev. Lance and Kristi Carrithers discussed the need to create an estate plan, but were anxious about the cost. In 2008, when presented with an opportunity to meet with John Griffin, an estate planning attorney with Stewardship Counseling LLC, they decided to take action and create their plan.
| During their meetings with John, the Carrithers were guided through decisions on their health care and finances. |
By having these decision made, they knew that their desires will occur in the event of their death or incapacity.
“John helped us understand each decision that we needed to make along the way,” Lance said. “His process allowed us time to really discuss and make decisions with which we were comfortable. Since we weren’t paying an attorney an hourly rate to educate us and answer our questions, we felt like we could get all of our questions answered and not rush through the process out of a concern for the cost.”
One estate planning service provided by the Foundation is meeting with John Griffin, free of charge.
Ten years later the Carrithers knew it was past time to revisit the plan they created. Since they had worked with John Griffin previously, it made sense to them to meet with him again. This time to review and update their plan.
“In reviewing our plan, the best part was the opportunity to update our estate’s charitable giving to better reflect our current wishes,” Lance said. “Kristi and I couldn’t recommend John Griffin more highly to anyone who needs an initial estate plan, or anyone who has one but has not had it reviewed within the past five years.”
In their updated plan, they chose the Kansas Area United Methodist Foundation to care for a portion of their estate resources. After their plan was finalized with John Griffin and their drafting attorney, the Foundation helped the Carrithers create a way to disperse the charitable gift over a period of time. They chose the Foundation due to the connection to the United Methodist Church, its institutions and agencies in Kansas that are important to their family. In addition, through the Foundation the Carrithers could designate their heirs to make charitable giving decisions on their behalf to a variety of organizations that are important to their family.
Through making an agreement with the Foundation, families can choose multiple 501(c)3 organizations to receive a distribution from their fund. In addition, the agreement can be updated, at any time, without returning to the attorney. Through this, families can rest assured that their estate gift will be well managed by the Foundation and they can leave a legacy gift to organizations that impacted their life.
The Kansas Area United Methodist Foundation offers the services of John Griffin, free of charge, to donors and friends. For more information on the Foundation's estate planning services, click here. If you or a loved one are interested in creating or updating your estate plan, please click here to let us know or contact our office via email at foundation@kaumf.org or via phone at 620-664-9623.
