Curated News
By: NewsRamp Editorial Staff
February 19, 2026
American Heart Association Demystifies Estate Planning in Free Trusts Webinar
TLDR
- The American Heart Association's free estate planning webinar offers strategic advantages for securing assets and creating tax-efficient charitable legacies.
- The webinar explains how revocable living trusts and charitable remainder unitrusts are structured, created, maintained, and used in estate planning.
- This initiative helps people build lasting legacies that protect their families while funding cardiovascular research to create healthier communities for future generations.
- Learn how trusts work through real-life examples in a free one-hour webinar featuring wealth management and estate law experts.
Impact - Why it Matters
This initiative addresses a critical financial literacy gap that affects millions of Americans' ability to protect their assets and support causes they care about. Estate planning directly impacts how wealth transfers to future generations, reduces family conflicts, and determines whether charitable organizations receive vital funding for research and programs. With cardiovascular disease remaining a leading cause of death, supporting the American Heart Association's research through planned giving can accelerate medical breakthroughs that save lives. The webinar provides accessible education that empowers people to make informed decisions about their legacy, potentially transforming both personal financial security and public health outcomes for years to come.
Summary
A significant gap exists between Americans' recognition of estate planning importance and actual preparation, with over 80% acknowledging its value but less than a third having wills or trusts according to the 2025 Trust & Will Estate Planning Report. To address this disparity, the American Heart Association is hosting a free educational webinar on February 26th that will demystify revocable living trusts and charitable remainder unitrusts through real-life examples and plain language explanations. The session aims to make estate planning more accessible and less overwhelming for people of all ages who want to protect their assets while supporting charitable causes.
The webinar will feature expert insights from wealth management, estate law, and trust administration professionals including Clare Cpelecha, JD, CFTA, Mary Alfred, JD, and Samuel M. DiPietro. Participants will learn practical information about how trusts are created and maintained, the rules governing simple and complex trusts, and how these financial instruments can facilitate charitable giving. Lee Shapiro, volunteer chair of the American Heart Association and managing partner at 7wireVentures, emphasizes that everyone deserves guidance to build a legacy that protects both their money and their generosity, with the webinar designed to help people feel comfortable taking the next steps in their estate planning journey.
Beyond personal financial protection, the webinar highlights how planned giving through trusts supports the American Heart Association's 2028 Impact Goal, driving breakthroughs in cardiovascular research, policy, and care. Donors who establish legacy gifts through charitable financial planning gain recognition as members of the Paul Dudley White Legacy Circle within the Cor Vitae Society, honoring one of the Association's visionary founders. With more than $5.9 billion invested in scientific discovery since 1949, legacy gifts sustain the organization's position as the nation's leading non-governmental funder of cardiovascular research, fueling lifesaving work that helps people live longer, healthier lives. Registration is available at heart.org/plan, with participants receiving free resources about charitable trusts and revocable living trusts upon signing up for the session.
Source Statement
This curated news summary relied on content disributed by NewMediaWire. Read the original source here, American Heart Association Demystifies Estate Planning in Free Trusts Webinar
