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Aggies Agree: This Gift Is Worth Your Attention

Learn how making a bequest can help you leave an impactful and customizable impact on Aggieland.

By Torie Noellsch

Graphics by Karen Hofmeister

March 4, 2025

While some Aggies share similar journeys, no two are identical. That’s probably why bequests—gifts left in wills or living trusts—are one of the most popular ways that former students and friends choose to support Texas A&M University.  

With multiple types of bequests and countless assets you can gift—including cash, real estate, stocks and more—bequests offer you the flexibility to customize your giving so that you can make a meaningful estate gift to Aggieland in a way that works best for you.


Bequests… 

Are revocable.

Want to make a commitment to support Aggieland in the future but need financial flexibility today? A bequest is best! Because the gift doesn’t happen until after your lifetime, you can update your gift as life evolves.

Offer four options.

With bequests, you can:  

  • Leave a percentage of your entire estate.  

  • Name a specific amount or item(s).  

  • Gift the residue of your estate after your specific bequests have been fulfilled.  

  • Name a charitable organization like the Texas A&M Foundation as your secondary beneficiary in case your primary beneficiary is not alive.

Require specific language.

It’s important to provide your estate planning attorney with proper legal language to carry out your wishes. For instance, many Aggies think they can simply leave a bequest to Texas A&M University in their wills, but the language should direct the gift to the Texas A&M Foundation to ensure it’s properly used as you desire on campus. 
 
Click here for language that can help you and your attorney in preparing your bequest to the Texas A&M Foundation for the benefit of Texas A&M University. 
 

Aren’t always exact.

Because bequests happen after your lifetime, we understand that your gift’s value is an estimate. After the executor of your estate pays bills and settles any legal matters, your gift may be larger or smaller than you expected. That’s okay! Any amount you leave to create a brighter future for Texas A&M is a blessing for future Aggies. Whoop!


 

The graphics above represent statistics from FY24 (July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024).


A Donor’s Decision 

“I decided to bequeath my estate to the Texas A&M Foundation to fund General Rudder Corps Scholarships because I don’t have children, and all my siblings are well-off and don’t need my help. My decision came full circle years later when I suffered a pulmonary embolism while returning home to Franklin, Tennessee, from Houston. I received medical attention and made it through, but I could’ve easily died if the clot had been much larger. Had I passed without making plans, my estate would have gone to probate and been split among my family instead of honoring my time in the Corps of Cadets with gifts to Aggies who need the financial assistance.” -Brian Ehni ’74 

 

 

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Contact

  • Kevin Westerman '11

  • Assistant Vice President for Planned Giving
  • Planned Giving
  • Call: 979.314.8799

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