Barbara and Roy Adams
Barbara and Roy Adams know the importance of flexibility. During Roy’s 32-year career with Exxon, the couple lived overseas for 23 years in five countries and traveled to more than 50 countries, finely honing their adaptability and packing skills.
When Roy retired in 1993, the couple chose to move back to Houston, where they first met and where Barbara grew up. Barbara returned to volunteering at Texas Children’s as she had in her youth, becoming an active member of The Auxiliary to Texas Children’s. Roy enjoys sharing his expertise and experience with nonprofit organizations as a volunteer consultant with The Executive Service Corps of Houston.
When the Adamses began looking at their estate plans, they were attracted to the charitable remainder trust. With charitable remainder trusts, a determined percentage of assets provide current and future income to the donor and the remaining assets benefit the charitable organization.
Not surprisingly, the Adamses liked the flexibility of the charitable remainder trust. The trust can be designed to include multiple beneficiaries, it is amendable and contributions can be made by installments. The trust can be funded with cash, stock or property, and its potential benefits include increased income by converting appreciated low-yield assets without paying capital gains tax, in addition to a charitable deduction for income tax purposes.
“The flexibility to be able to fund the trust in installments helped us get started, while using the deductions in selected tax years,” Roy says. “Also, we think it is extremely important that multiple beneficiaries can be named because most people have more than one philanthropic interest.”
The Adamses designated charitable organizations include both of their alma maters and, of course, Texas Children’s Hospital. Barbara’s main interest is the hospital’s Pi Beta Phi Patient/Family Library, and Roy is particularly enthusiastic about the work of Texas Children’s Cancer Center.
By including Texas Children’s in their estate plans, Barbara and Roy are recognized as members of the Abercrombie Society, and their gift will help ensure that the hospital’s mission to provide quality patient care, research and education will continue well into the future.
“Texas Children’s brings a real value to the community,” Barbara says. “A lot of important things are going on there, and we want to support it as best we can.”
