Gift & Estate Planning

Lee Clarke

Lee Clarke knows the value in working as a team.

During his years as a Housing and Consumer Economics major in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, Lee (BSFCS '96) was a Bulldog through-and-through as a member of the UGA football team. For four years, he learned from FACS faculty the essentials he would need to build a successful career. He also listened as his football coaches taught the importance of striving to leave a positive impact on the world.

"Our coaching staff would repeatedly speak about the different ways in how we, as a team, wanted to be remembered and how we should attain the drive to succeed. FACS has provided my foundation for learning how to manage life on a daily basis, whatever comes my way," said Lee, a member of AT&T's technical networking team in Tucker. "My degree has helped me look intuitively at a subject matter, learn its characteristics and examine the cause-effect relationships it entails."

That's why, when FACS introduced the 100 Legacies campaign, it made perfect sense for Lee and his wife, Kenyatta—also a 1996 FACS graduate with a degree in Child and Family Development—to act and leave their mark as Legacies while making a difference in the life of their college.

Lee and Kenyatta have made annual gifts to FACS since they graduated. However, in order to leave their legacy with the college, they decided to include an outright gift to FACS in their will. The couple's planned gift will support their two major departments at the college.

"Kenyatta spent numerous hours at the McPhaul Center (for Child and Family Development) and only wants to see future enhancements there," Lee said. "Consumer Economics is a great program helping students to achieve the vital skills necessary to be successful in life. It has always been important to support my college because I could not have achieved this level of success without it."

By becoming Legacies, Lee and his wife are hopeful that they are setting a positive example for their young daughter, and any other children they may have down the road.

"While caring for one's family is a supreme obligation, the act of giving—especially to those whom a person doesn't know or to a cause that needs supporting well into the future—is equally honorable," Lee said. "Our future heirs will have sufficient assets—both tangible and intangible—and they will know their parents thought way beyond themselves and, hopefully, they will be inclined to do the same."

The information in this Web site is not intended as legal advice. For legal advice, please consult an attorney. Figures cited in examples are for hypothetical purposes only and are subject to change. References to estate and income tax include federal taxes only. Individual state taxes and/or state law may impact your results.