You’ve given to charity in numerous ways throughout your lifetime. This is a pursuit that you hold dear and you want it to remain a part of your legacy. While much of the estate planning process centers around passing on assets to your loved ones, there can be much more to the process than this.
You can incorporate charitable giving into your plan. These are a few of the more common strategies utilized to achieve this aim.
Charitable remainder trusts
Trusts are a useful component in estate planning because of their flexibility. With a charitable remainder trust, you can even start assisting the charity of your choice while you are alive. Typically, these trusts work by distributing income to non-charitable trusts and apportioning the remaining income to charitable beneficiaries. This arrangement will continue for the period of time that you specify. One notable benefit of using charitable remainder trusts is that the trustor can usually claim tax deductions.
Non-cash gifts
Another way that you can donate to charity through your estate plan is by gifting property to the charity. For example, you may have a holiday home that you would like to use for the rest of your life, but donate to charity upon your death. With the appropriate documents, you can reserve the right to lifetime use of the property while still donating it to your chosen charity upon your death.
It is perfectly feasible to make charitable giving a part of your legacy, but you need to ensure that you use the appropriate estate planning tools. Seeking legal guidance as you draft your estate plan will to help ensure that you make moves that serve your unique needs and goals.