Gonzaga Puts University Expertise to Work for the Community

More than 575 people registered for a complimentary estate planning webinar hosted by Gonzaga University on Aug. 12, demonstrating strong community interest in practical information that can help individuals and families prepare for the future.

Presented by Gonzaga University’s Office of Planned Giving in recognition of National Make-A-Will Month, Estate Planning Basics offered participants an accessible introduction to wills, trusts, powers of attorney, health care directives and other fundamental elements of estate planning. The complimentary webinar was designed to make a subject that can often feel complicated or intimidating easier to understand and, more importantly, easier to act upon.

The program featured Chris Crago, J.D., LL.M., professor at Gonzaga University School of Law and director of the Gonzaga Federal Income Tax Clinic. Before joining Gonzaga, Crago spent 13 years in private practice in Spokane, with work focused on estate planning, taxation, business transactions and related legal matters.

Crago began with a simple premise: estate planning is not only for people with substantial wealth. It is a way for people to make decisions now about who will care for their children, manage their affairs, make medical decisions on their behalf and ultimately carry out their wishes. Even people with relatively modest estates can benefit significantly from having a plan in place.

Over the course of the presentation, participants learned about the roles of wills and revocable living trusts, financial powers of attorney and advance health care directives, as well as beneficiary designations, digital assets, probate and common estate-planning mistakes, all in conversational terms. Their questions quickly moved from the general to the practical: What happens when there is no family member or friend available to serve as power of attorney? When does joint ownership make sense? What happens to a living trust created in one state if someone later dies in another?

The webinar concluded with a Q&A session where questions like these were answered, and practical steps participants could begin taking immediately were provided—from inventorying assets and identifying trusted decision-makers to updating beneficiary forms and reviewing existing plans.

For Gonzaga, however, the value of the event extended beyond the information presented.

Universities are home to extraordinary concentrations of knowledge and expertise. Programs like Estate Planning Basics put that knowledge into service beyond the classroom, connecting University faculty and professional resources directly with people who can benefit from them. That connection is particularly meaningful for topics like estate planning, where uncertainty, cost and complexity can become barriers to action. By making trusted expertise more accessible, Gonzaga can help members of its broader community make informed decisions affecting themselves, their loved ones and the organizations they care about.

The webinar also introduced participants to another way Gonzaga expertise serves the region. The Gonzaga Federal Income Tax Clinic, a Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic housed within the School of Law, provides free or low-cost assistance to qualifying individuals and families facing tax disputes with the IRS, along with taxpayer education and community outreach.

“Today's webinar is one small way we hope to serve our community by providing practical information that can help you care for the people and causes that matter most,” Senior Director of Gift Planning Chris Stiles (’96, J.D.), told participants as the program began.

More than 575 registrations suggest the community was ready for exactly that kind of resource. Participants also received the webinar recording, presentation materials and a complimentary Estate Planning Toolkit, extending the educational value of the program beyond the live session.

Extending the University’s educational mission outward and sharing expertise in ways that strengthen individuals, families and communities is another expression of Gonzaga’s Jesuit mission.