When Anne and Joe Mason decided to include the Nature Trust in their Will, they were motivated by the wish to give back to “the grandchildren of the world.” But the tax benefits they learned about afterwards were an unexpected bonus!

Both Anne and Joe grew up in rural Nova Scotia. When Anne moved to Wellington in 1965, where she and Joe still live today, it was largely undeveloped – “as in, there were only two other girls my age within walking distance to play with,” remembers Anne. “We would get up in the morning and go outside and play, climb the apple trees, climb the oak trees, run and play in the woods. It was still quite wild.” Joe also grew up with the woods in his backyard, on the outskirts of Antigonish. “Where we grew up, there were two huge open fields for making hay. When the last hay harvest was over they’d flood it in the winter so we had access to the biggest outdoor arena.”

Their wild childhoods planted the seeds of a lifelong love of the outdoors. “We love hiking, we love biking, we love to kayak, we travel around lots of areas in Nova Scotia for the trails and parks, but not just Nova Scotia – lots of areas in Canada and elsewhere,” Anne explains. When their first child was born, Anne and Joe lived in an urban area. They made a point of moving out to the countryside before their second child was born so their children would have a chance to play outside and be immersed in nature in the same way that Anne and Joe had been.

But the places they explored as children are no longer the wild nature they remember.

“Watching so much development made us cherish that youth we had,” Anne says. “We thought, Who is going to save some land for those future generations?” They decided to look for an organization that was dedicated specifically to preserving land in Nova Scotia – and found the Nature Trust.

“We didn’t make a decision right away,” Anne continues. “We learned about all the different aspects of the Nature Trust, and we loved the way it was managed! We loved that so much of the income goes to saving land and to the workings of having that done. It seemed there was little waste – money is well used.

“Our kids are both well set up, and of course we will leave money to them but we thought we could share what we have [to help protect nature.] We didn’t know the process, but we were going to our lawyer to have our Will updated anyway – and the Nature Trust made it so easy for us!” They brought along the suggested wording in our free Legacy Giving Guide & Toolkit, and Anne notes that “that was really important, because our lawyer didn’t really know how to do it – she wouldn’t have worded it in the way that makes it really seamless. We really appreciated the ease of that.” They finalized their updated Will to include a residual gift to the Nature Trust of 20% of the remainder of their estate.

But their legacy gift to the Nature Trust came with a surprise gift as well – significant tax benefits. Their gifts in their Wills for the Nature Trust will reduce their estate taxes, maximizing the amount left for their friends and family. “We honestly did not know about the tax implications right away!” laughs Anne. “We were pretty pleased with that! And it really was a simple process.”

The Masons’ gift will also ensure that all their estate’s funds will be used according to their own wishes, in service of what they care about most – a legacy that is lost for estates that are left without explicit direction in the Will or which don’t have a charitable gift to offset taxes due on one’s final tax return.

“We both see that one of the biggest protections against climate change is nature itself,” Joe says. “If we protect nature, it protects us.” Anne adds that “We feel like it’s one of the most important things you can do, to save the planet for future generations. And we’re thrilled that there is an entity like the Nature Trust who is looking after it. We wouldn’t know how to do it otherwise.”

Joe continues, “This is our way of giving back. We’re giving this part to the Nature Trust but really to our grandchildren and everyone else’s grandchildren. We’re giving it back to the grandchildren of the world.”

Thank you to Anne and Joe Mason for this generous and inspiring support for nature! Learn more about creating a natural legacy with the Nature Trust.