Planned Giving

Leave a Gift for Chickens in Your Will.

Thank you for thinking of chickens as you plan ahead. A gift in your will costs nothing in your lifetime, and one day it will fund lawsuits for animals.

A gift like that is called a bequest. You name Legal Impact for Chickens in your will, your trust, or a beneficiary form. Nothing changes for you now. You can change your mind at any time. And when the day comes, chickens have a lawyer because of you.

What your gift will do

Legal Impact for Chickens (LIC) works to protect farmed animals by enforcing the law.

Animal cruelty is a crime. But prosecutors rarely enforce cruelty laws against the powerful corporate interests that control animal agriculture.

Civil litigation offers a solution. At Legal Impact for Chickens, we sue companies and executives that abuse farmed animals.

In LIC v. Alexandre, a court ruled that a society for the prevention of cruelty to animals like Legal Impact for Chickens has the power to sue an agricultural company that abuses animals.

Lawsuits take years. That’s what makes a gift in your will such a good fit here—it’s patient money for patient work. Your bequest will pay for things like depositions, expert witnesses, and appeals.

Gifts of every size help. LIC is a small team doing large-scale work, so your support will go far.

How to name LIC in your will

Your attorney will want these details.

Legal name: Legal Impact for Chickens

Organization: a California nonprofit public benefit corporation, incorporated July 9, 2021

Tax status: a 501(c)(3) public charity

EIN: 87-1596873

Address: 2108 N Street, #5239, Sacramento, California 95816-5712

Here is sample wording your attorney can start from.

To leave a specific amount:

I give to Legal Impact for Chickens, a California nonprofit public benefit corporation with its principal office at 2108 N Street, #5239, Sacramento, California 95816-5712, tax identification number 87-1596873, the sum of $______, to be used for its general purposes.

To leave a share of what remains after your loved ones are provided for:

I give to Legal Impact for Chickens, a California nonprofit public benefit corporation with its principal office at 2108 N Street, #5239, Sacramento, California 95816-5712, tax identification number 87-1596873, ______ percent of the residue of my estate, to be used for its general purposes.

To leave a gift only if the people you name don't survive you:

If [name] does not survive me, I give that share to Legal Impact for Chickens, a California nonprofit public benefit corporation with its principal office at 2108 N Street, #5239, Sacramento, California 95816-5712, tax identification number 87-1596873, to be used for its general purposes.

This wording is a starting point, not finished language. Your own attorney should adapt it to your plans and to the law of your state.

Please consider leaving your gift unrestricted—“for its general purposes.” LIC picks the cases with the greatest potential impact, and an unrestricted gift can go wherever it will help the most animals.

Other ways to leave a legacy gift

Name LIC as a beneficiary. Retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and bank or brokerage accounts pass by beneficiary form, not by will. You can name LIC on that form, usually in a few minutes and at no cost. Retirement accounts are worth special attention. Because LIC is tax-exempt, it can receive a retirement account without the income tax that an individual heir would owe on a traditional account.

Leave a gift through your trust. If you have a living trust, LIC can be named in it the same way it would be named in a will.

Give through a donor-advised fund. If you have a donor-advised fund, you can name LIC to receive what's left in it.

A note on taxes. A charitable bequest is deducted from your estate before federal estate tax is calculated. Federal law expressly counts the prevention of cruelty to animals among the charitable purposes that qualify. See 26 U.S.C. § 2055(a)(2). LIC is a society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, and a 501(c)(3) public charity. Please ask your own attorney or tax advisor what this means for you.

Let’s talk!

We would love to hear from you.

Email: info@legalimpactforchickens.org

Phone: (888) 581-8797

If you've already included LIC, please tell us. It would mean a great deal, and it would let us thank you. Telling us commits you to nothing, and you can change your plans at any time. If you’d rather stay anonymous, that’s welcome too—just say so, and LIC will keep it that way.

One note, since LIC is itself a law firm: LIC can’t act as your lawyer or give you legal or tax advice about your own estate, and writing to LIC about this topic doesn’t create an attorney-client relationship. Please talk with your own attorney about what’s right for you.

Thank you.

Thank you for thinking of chickens.