Life Insurance

If you want to make a lasting contribution to the University of Alberta while ensuring your family is looked after, consider a gift of life insurance.

Financial and family circumstances change over time. If you purchased life insurance policies years ago, maybe you’ve decided you no longer need that level of coverage anymore. Gifting these policies, or a portion, is a powerful and simple way to support a university built for tomorrow. You’ll receive a charitable tax receipt for the fair market value of the policy.

Not only is it a way to create a lasting impact at the University of Alberta for a relatively modest cost, it does so without significantly reducing the value of your estate available to your heirs.

Here are two options:

  • Name UAlberta as a policy beneficiary: Retain ownership and control over the policy; bypass probate fees; apply tax receipt to your final tax return
  • Name UAlberta as owner and beneficiary of a new or existing policy: Immediate tax receipt for fair market value of policy (if transferring existing policy); tax receipt for all subsequent premium payments

Benefits of gifting life insurance

  • Only modest, regular payments are required
  • Maximize tax credits to your estate
  • Receive a tax receipt for premium payments 

How it Works

An alumna purchases an insurance policy that has a death benefit of $100,000 and names the University of Alberta as owner and beneficiary. She pays premiums of $2,000 per year for 10 years, after which the cash value is expected to be sufficient to sustain the policy.

  1. The $2,000 annual premium payments are eligible for a tax receipt.
  2. The donor gets a tax credit of $1,000 on the annual premium payments.*
  3. The donor pays a total of $20,000 in premiums for a future gift of $100,000.

* Tax credit depends on donor's income and specific circumstances

Contact us today

Call 780.492.7400 or 1.888.799.9899 | Email giving@ualberta.ca

My wife, Anne Lambert, was a major force in building the Anne Lambert Clothing and Textiles Collection at the U of A. We had the opportunity to make a gift of a life insurance policy that will support the collection and the learning opportunities it provides to students. That collection is what she loved, and this is a way to make sure her legacy continues.

David Howatt

David Howatt