• Children/Heirs
• Charity
• Uncle Sam

Planned giving is not about death. It is about what is best for you and your family. It lets you plan while you are alive and chose where you want to leave your legacy to help others enjoy the pleasures of the great outdoors.

Careful planning can ensure that your property is distributed in the manner you choose. It can also significantly reduce administrative costs and estate tax liability.

Your answers to the following four questions will help lead you in the direction of which planned gift might be the best for you and your family.

1. If you have assets that you can afford to donate now to support a favorite cause/charity, you should consider an outright gift.
2. If you have assets that you need to retain total use of during the rest of your lives, but would like to see them used by a favorite charity after you are “gone,” consider a testamentary gift through your will, life insurance policy, or retirement funds.
3. If you have assets from which you need to retain benefits or income from now, but want those assets to go to charity in the future, you should consider a gift that will pay you (and/or other beneficiaries) income now or beginning at some predetermined date in the future. These life income producing planned gift instruments include charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder trusts.
4. If you have substantial assets that you want to pass to your children or other heirs and you do not need the asset or income from that asset now, you should consider a charitable lead trust.

Life Insurance
Making a charity the owner or beneficiary of a life insurance policy is a good way to make a sizeable gift without an upfront transfer of cash or securities.

Retirement Funds
Making a charity the beneficiary of a retirement fund is a good way to make a sizeable gift without an upfront transfer of cash or securities.

Charitable Gift annuity
A charitable gift annuity is a contract between a charity and an individual. The individual, called the annuitant, transfers an asset to the charity and in turn, the charity agrees to pay a specified amount to the annuitant(s), to one annuitant for life or two annuitants for both of their lives. The payment to the annuitant(s) can start immediately or be deferred for retirement income. There is an immediate income tax deduction for the charitable portion of the transfer. This is usually funded with cash or appreciated securities, but other assets can be used under specific circumstances.

Charitable Remainder Trust
A Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT) works somewhat like an annuity. The donor transfers assets into a trust. The trustee sells the asset to fund the charitable trust and, assuming appreciated assets are used for funding, avoids any capital gains tax. The trustee pays the donor or the designee(s) for lifetime(s) or for up to 20 years. When the trustmaker dies or the trust matures, the remaining trust assets (principal plus any growth) pass to charity. The fact that a charity receives the “remainder” interest in the trust is responsible for its name. There is an immediate income tax deduction for the charitable portion of the transfer. This is usually funded with cash or appreciated securities, but other assets can be used under specific circumstances.

Charitable Lead Trust
A charitable lead trust is a “mirror image” of a charitable remainder trust. A lead trust pays the income to charitable beneficiaries for a term of years or for the trust makers’ lives, after which the remaining trust assets (principal plus any growth) pass to heirs or other non-charitable beneficiaries.

Any of the above information should not be considered legal, accounting or other professional advice. Please consult your own advisors.