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Pete and Leila deLaubenfels have taken advantage of several planned giving opportunities including a retained life estate, charitable gift annuities, and a bequest in their will.
To recognize their generosity, the College of Veterinary Medicine named the atrium of Magruder Hall in their honor.
Couple gives home to support OSU’s veterinary college
Through a retained life estate, the deLaubenfels were able to plan a gift for OSU and to stay on the land they loved.
The Retained Life Estate
You can give your home, farm, or forested land to benefit OSU and still retain the right to live in or use the property for the rest of your life. You receive a charitable income tax deduction and potentially reduce probate and estate taxes. After your lifetime, your property will provide a generous gift for Oregon State University.
For more information about retained life estate or other planned gifts, contact Dan Peterson at 503-553-3414 or Dan.Peterson@oregonstate.edu.
In 1950, Pete and Leila deLaubenfels fell in love with 320 acres of fields and forests south of Corvallis. “We bought this land and put our life into it,” said Pete, B.S. ’62, Ed.M. ’64.
The couple farmed and improved the property, building a home and constructing a dam to create a 10-acre lake. However, as they neared retirement, Pete, a school teacher, and Leila, a secretary, realized that their pensions would not be enough to maintain the property and pay the taxes on it.
Rather than selling it immediately, the deLaubenfels decided to make a retained life estate gift, which would ultimately support the College of Veterinary Medicine and allow them to stay on the land they loved so much.
The deLaubenfels donated their home but kept the right to live in the house and use the property for the rest of their lives. This provided them with an income tax deduction and enabled them to create a future gift to the college where the deLaubenfels took their sheep and chickens for treatment.
The couple have been very pleased with the results. “It was the smartest and the luckiest thing we ever did,” said Pete.
Recently, the deLaubenfels decided that they wanted to move into town, so they again contacted the OSU Foundation, which facilitated selling their property. Part of the proceeds benefited the college, and the deLaubenfels also received a share representing the value of their remaining life estate. They were so pleased with the planned gifts they had created in the past that they donated that amount as well to fund a charitable gift annuity, which will pay the couple a fixed, secure income for the rest of their lives.
Over the years, the deLaubenfels have enjoyed watching the College of Veterinary Medicine grow, moving into a full four-year program, adding a new small animal hospital, and recently, opening a major facility expansion. Because of the deLaubenfels' many contributions, the college recently named the Magruder Hall atrium in their honor. “I think the college is absolutely fabulous,” said Pete. “And we are very pleased with the way things turned out.”
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