-Giving to favorite causes, churches, colleges, or other qualified charitable organizations is very meaningful to many. Including charitable giving in an estate plan helps assure that chosen causes or institutions are going to continue to benefit when you pass on or become incapacitated and the San Luis Obispo estate planning attorneys at Toews Law Group, Inc. have recently announced their strategies for including charitable giving in estate plans.
Strategies for including charitable giving in an estate plan include:
- Setting up a private foundation with the mission to provide charitable assistance to specific causes, organizations or institutions
- Establishing a trust that holds assets to benefit the charitable causes, including gift annuities. California law requires a separate trust for gift annuities
- Specifying specific assets, or proceeds from the sale of certain assets, be donated to favorite organizations and institutions
Any asset specified in an estate plan can be designated for the benefit of favored causes and institutions. Assets include cash, retirement accounts, insurance policies, all or portions of a stock portfolio, real estate, collections of value such as art, antiques, jewelry, and more.
How those assets are designated for charitable purposes is important to be sure they are distributed according to your desires. For example, the best way to gift a retirement account is usually to list the charitable organization as a beneficiary. However, there is always the possibility of complications when retirement account beneficiaries include relatives as well as charitable organizations. The experienced San Luis Obispo estate planning attorneys at Toews Law Group, Inc. can advise you about the best strategies designating a charitable organization as beneficiary of a retirement plan.
Before deciding how and what to give, it is important to consider all of the implications so that the estate continue to benefit you while you are still alive and that all beneficiaries, including charitable institutions benefit in the best way possible.
Implications to your estate plan can include:
- Tax benefits to you, your estate and beneficiaries
- Future benefits for charities that may be best served through a private foundation
- Reducing the chance of challenges to your will
- Reducing the chances of any part of your estate going into probate
Whether you already have an estate plan, or are seeking assistance to establish one, Toews Law Group, Inc. can review a current estate plan, help you inventory assets, identify those you wish to bequest as charitable giving and help you make sure all wishes are met.
Toews Law Group, Inc.
1212 Marsh Street, Suite 3
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
(805) 781-3645