VERO BEACH — America’s leading speaker on estate planning and retirement benefits, Natalie Choate, was the keynote presenter at the inaugural Symposium on Charitable Giving and Estate Planning.
It was hosted Oct. 20 in partnership by the Indian River Community Foundation and the United Way Foundation of Indian River County.
The event was held by invitation only at the John’s Island Club and attracted 40 attorneys, financial planners, insurance advisors and trust officers. The purpose was to provide professional advisors information to help clients make effective decisions about including philanthropy as part of their estate and retirement plans, said Kerry Bartlett, Executive Director of the Indian River Community Foundation.
“Philanthropic investment is more than a pastime for many Indian River County residents, so it is important our local advisors have access to educational opportunities that deal with complex planning issues,” Bartlett said “Natalie’s book, Death Planning and Retirement Benefits, is in its seventh edition and is regarded as the practitioner’s bible. It was a tremendous honor to have her share her wisdom and expertise with our professional advisor partners.”
Choate is an Of Counsel attorney in the trusts and estates department of the Boston firm Nutter McClennen & Fish. Her practice is limited to estate planning for retirement benefits and her published works have become leading resources for estate planning professionals.
She is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and was awarded the title of Distinguished Accredited Estate Planner by The National Association of Estate Planners and Councils.
The event was sponsored by Vero Insurance, Chartis and US Trust Bank of America Private Wealth Management. Michelle Malyn, Director of Gift Planning for the United Way Foundation of Indian River County, noted the event would not have been a success without their support, as well as the willingness of the Community Foundation and the United Way to work together in such a unique way.
“We see great value in our collaborative partnership with the Indian River Community Foundation,” Malyn said. “We know the best strategies come from aligning all available resources around a given issue and our work together will continue with a shared goal in mind, advancing the common good here in Indian River County with the help of local philanthropists and community leaders.”
The United Way Foundation was established in 1992 and allows donors to provide for United Way’s future through bequests and other planned gifts, to ensure that United Way can continue to address urgent human needs both during and beyond the donor’s lifetime.
For more information contact Malyn at (772) 567-8900 or visit www.unitedwayirc.org.
The Indian River Community Foundation was founded in 2005 to promote donor-driven philanthropy and now manages nearly $9 million in charitable assets, the majority of which held in donor-advised funds.
For more information contact Bartlett at (772) 492-1407 or visit www.ircommunityfoundation.com.