A Christian Estate Planning Service Rooted in Biblical Stewardship
Christian families often find that traditional estate planning resources focus entirely on financial formulas and the transfer of wealth. When a conversation centers strictly on assets, the true vision behind your lifetime of giving can easily become obscured.
Our complimentary estate design service is here to serve as an initial stepping stone. We sit down with you as a trusted guide to help you clarify your family values and kingdom goals first. By organizing your spiritual intentions before you meet with a legal professional, you can approach the estate planning process with total confidence.
When we begin to see our resources as entrusted by God, estate planning becomes more than a legal task. It becomes an opportunity to love our families well, support the ministries God has placed on our hearts and think carefully about what faithfulness looks like beyond our lifetime.
Cru Foundation’s Estate Design specialists help you organize your goals, values and resources before legal documents are drafted. The result is a thoughtful “blueprint” that can help your estate plan reflect your faith, care for your family and support the Great Commission.
Three Stewardship Questions Before You Design Your Legal Estate Plan
The families who benefit most from Estate Design usually share a few things in common.
- They want their faith to shape their estate, not only their giving during life. Inheritance, family relationships, ministry support and long-term impact are stewardship questions before they are technical questions.
- They have assets that deserve thoughtful planning. This may include a home, retirement accounts, business interests, real estate, appreciated stock or other resources that require careful coordination.
- They are open to considering kingdom impact as part of their legacy. Not because they feel pressure, but because they want their resources to continue serving God’s purposes.
If that describes your situation, Estate Design may be a helpful next step. If you are still considering whether you need an estate plan at all, the guide below may be a better starting place.
Estate Design is not an online will service or a wealth management firm.
Three kinds of estate design services exist for most donors. Each does something different.
Online will and trust services
Trust & Will, LegalZoom, FreeWill
These platforms can help create legal documents quickly and at a lower cost. They may be useful for people with simple estates who already know what they want their documents to say. Their strength is speed. Their limitation is that much of the deeper thinking still rests on you.
Wealth management firms
Fidelity, Creative Planning, your financial advisor
Some firms offer estate planning support within a broader wealth management relationship. This can be helpful, especially when the firm already oversees the client’s assets. The focus is usually on the financial structure of the estate.
Estate Design
Cru Foundation
Cru Foundation does not draft legal documents or manage your assets. Estate Design is the conversation that helps prepare you for those steps. Our team helps Christian donors think through questions of family, faith, stewardship and kingdom impact so the legal documents can be shaped by a clearer vision.
For many people, Estate Design is a one-time process that brings clarity. From there, the legal documents can follow with greater purpose.
Our Estate Design Service provides
Faith-based, Values-aligned Specialists
Cru Foundation’s experienced Estate Design specialists understand the Christian convictions that often shape generosity, family care and long-term legacy. They are here to listen carefully and help you think through your goals with wisdom and humility.
A Steward’s Perspective
Cru Foundation approaches Estate Design through the lens of God’s ownership. We believe people matter more than money, and that thoughtful planning should strengthen family relationships, clarify intent and help resources serve the purposes God has placed before you.
Confidential, No Obligation Services
Cru Foundation is here to serve. Our Estate Design service is complimentary, confidential and without obligation. We do not receive commissions, and we do not pressure you toward a particular decision. Your personal information is handled with care and kept secure.
The benefits for you and your family may include:
- A clearer understanding of your personal, family and charitable goals.
- A plan that helps safeguard family relationships and reduce confusion.
- Thoughtful consideration of which assets may be best suited for family, ministry or charitable purposes.
- Tax-aware planning that can help you steward resources wisely.
- A legacy plan that supports the people and ministries God has placed on your heart.
Get a FREE Estate Design Guide
Are you preparing to plan your will or trust? Cru Foundation’s Estate Design Guide can help you begin with the right questions. The guide walks through a simple process for thinking about your family, your resources and your charitable intent. When you are ready, Cru Foundation can also help you develop a personal “blueprint” to prepare for conversations with your professional advisor.
One Family's Journey
Listen to the testimony from Tim and Kathy Bush, a ministry partner couple who had been searching and trying to figure out their plans for several years before journeying with Cru Foundation. Now they feel a sense of peace and that a burden has been lifted off their shoulders.
The Guide provides the foundational biblical perspective of our estate design process that is technically accurate and explains in greater detail how this approach is unique for those motivated to discover God’s plan for their estate.
Our professional staff is ready to listen to your personal goals and unique needs of your intended Design. We will schedule a brief personal exploratory meeting by phone or Zoom.
The Confidential Estate Inventory is designed to assist you in gathering the necessary and relevant data for your estate planning. Complete the sections – the “Five P’s” of Estate Planning: People, Passions, Property, Plans and Planners. Each section contains straightforward guidelines to summarize your personal situation, family goals, charitable intent, and your supporting documents needed to accompany your will or trust.
In about three weeks, we return a customized Estate Design document using your information that proposes a strategy to minimize taxes, meet family goals, and support the ministries you love! We summarize implementation steps and key decisions to consider before drafting your will or trust documents that discuss each aspect of your individual estate, personally incorporating the data you provide in the Confidential Estate Inventory form.
We provide a step-by-step process to guide your decision-making through to completion. You will be prepared to create legal documents or meet with an attorney to execute your plans. This pre-work often reduces time and cost while increasing the quality of your estate plans.
Gift Design Service
Sometimes the Estate Design process raises questions about giving during life rather than through an estate. This may involve real estate, business interests, property or other non-cash assets.
Cru Foundation can provide educational illustrations that help you consider how a current gift may affect the receiving ministry and your broader estate plan. Many donors find that this process helps them think more clearly about how to steward resources while also experiencing the joy of seeing ministry impact during their lifetime.
Name Cru Ministries in your Estate Plans today
Cru Foundation has experience helping administer estate gifts and stewarding gifts intended for Cru ministries. If you choose to include Cru Foundation or a Cru ministry in your estate plans, our team can help you use clear language and think through how your gift may be carried out.
* The content on this page is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal, tax, or financial advice. Please consult with qualified professional advisors regarding your specific situation before making any giving or planning decisions.