Why Should Your Will Include a Contingency Beneficiary?

It's good that Virginia Beach attorney John Midgett of Midgett & Preti PC asked his client, the late Frederick G. Ward, a key question several years ago.

Frederick Ward

"If no one you have named is living, are there charities, causes or schools you would want to benefit?"

Ward was a retired Naval officer and widower living in a Virginia Beach, Virginia  retirement community. He thought carefully about that routine question his attorney always asks clients preparing wills, trusts or other estate plans.

Fred decided to include his community foundation as a contingent beneficiary should his daughter and grandson pre-decease him. Although it was unlikely it would come to fruition, he expressed a desire for a scholarship for Virginia Beach students with preferences for Princess Anne High School graduates or people studying English in college.

It's sad that a few months before Fred passed away in 2011 at age 92, his only child Sharon died. Her only son Roger had passed away before her in an accident.

Gertrude "Betty" Ward

Because of Fred's contingency plans, the Gertrude Ward Scholarship Fund at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation will be helping its first students attend college in the coming year. Gertrude, who was nicknamed Betty, had taught at Princess Anne High. Fred's idea was to use his estate to  honor his wife's memory and her years of teaching. Since no relative outlived him, Fred's wishes were carried out by his executor Mavis McKenley of AMG National Trust Bank in Virginia Beach.

What a gift it is that in finalizing Fred's estate Mavis found a wonderful World War II era scrapbook documenting his and his wife's lives. This special book of memories includes the photos of Fred and Betty you see above.

On December 1 we will begin taking applications for the new Ward Scholarship and the more than 70 other scholarship funds we administer at the community foundation. Each permanent fund was started by a generous donor like Fred Ward -- people interested in education and the promise it holds for people to lead better lives. Click here to learn more about Hampton Roads Community Foundation scholarships.


(The Hampton Roads Community Foundation is a regional community foundation started in 1950 as the first community foundation in Virginia. It is among nearly 750 community foundation around the country serving specific geographic regions. It is the largest grant and scholarship provider in southeastern Virginia and manages more than 400 charitable funds created by donors from all walks of life. Over the decades it has provided more than $195 million to improve life for residents living in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, including the cities of Chesapeake, Franklin, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Smithfield, Suffolk and Virginia Beach. It also serves people in Isle of Wight and Southampton counties and the Eastern Shore of Virginia, including Accomack and Northampton counties. Learn more at hamptonroadscf.org. You can click here to locate a community foundation near you. )