"Charitable Giving"

Charitable Giving Topics Included Under this Section:

A) Basic Charitable Giving Concepts
B) Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRT’s)
C) Charitable Lead Trusts (CLT’s)
D) Charitable Gifts and Beneficiaries
E) Charitable Foundations
F) Charitable Planning Strategies
G) Income and Estate Tax Strategies

A) Basic Charitable Giving Concepts

By designing a charitable estate plan, you can decide to whom your funds will be distributed and for what benefit or purpose. Adding to or removing charities from your list until death is a right worth retaining also. Many families who engage in charitable planning are not giving away personal capital; rather, are controlling and redirecting capital which would otherwise go to federal or state taxing authorities. Your heirs may not understand Biblical stewardship or the institutions and organizations which you believe are worthwhile (e.g. Local Church, Missions, Bible Colleges, Biblical Foundations, etc.).

B) Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRT’s)

A Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT) is an irrevocable trust created for the purpose of holding assets given to the trust by a donor during the donor’s lifetime or upon the donor’s death. CRT’s encourage gifts to charitable and non-profit organizations such as churches, colleges, hospitals and foundations.
A CRT is a split-interest trust since the benefit of the donated assets are shared between non-charitable and charitable beneficiaries. The non-charitable beneficiary (usually the donor and donor’s spouse) typically receive income payments for life or for a term of years, after which the remainder of the trust assets are paid to or held for qualified charitable beneficiaries.
The percentage of income that must be paid annually to donor(s) cannot be less than 5% of the value of the trust assets. There is no limit as to the number or type of income beneficiaries (individuals, corporations, trusts, etc.) except that at least one income beneficiary must be a taxable entity and that unborn individuals (e.g. grandchildren) do not qualify unless the trust’s duration is limited to a term of years.
A CRT can continue for the lifetimes of the persons selected as income beneficiaries or for a term of years not to exceed 20 years. When the last income beneficiary dies or the term of years expires, all assets remaining in the trust must be distributed to one or more charities, called “charitable remaindermen”.

The CRT offers the following estate planning advantages:

1) The Donor receives an income tax deduction based on the fair market
value of the remainder interest.
2) The trust assets are protected from creditors, to the extent of the law.
3) The Donor receives current income during their lifetime or stated time
period.
4) The Donor avoids capital gains tax on the property when it is sold by the
Trust. The best assets to give to a CRT are highly appreciated
assets in which the maker has a low cost basis. If an individual sells
these assets outside the CRT, the capital gain on the asset sale will, of
course, be subject to capital gains tax.
5) Federal estate and gift tax savings are realized by heirs.
6) An endowment for the charity(s) of the Donor’s choice is established.

Transferring your interest in a qualified retirement plan or an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) into a CRT during your lifetime is not permitted; however, naming your CRT as the death beneficiary is permitted. These types of testamentary transfers are excellent planning tools since the CRT can receive distributions from the qualified plan or IRA and offset the income taxes due with available charitable deductions.

There are primarily three types of CRT’s:

C) Charitable Lead Trusts (CLT’s)

The CLT is different than the CRT by having charitable income beneficiaries and typically family members as non-charitable remaindermen beneficiaries. The CLT is similar to the CRT in that it can be structured as either an annuity trust or unitrust.

At the expiration of the term of years or at the death of the trust maker (whichever specified), all the trust assets will be returned to the donor or to whomever the trust specified when established (usually children or grandchildren). CLT’s are designed for those who prefer not to delay benefiting their designated charity.

The major factors in determining whether to utilize a CRT or CLT is:

a) If you want to keep the income from your assets, pass the balance to charity, and replace the balance tax-free with a wealth-replacement trust, the CRT strategy fits.
b) If you want to donate current income streams to charity and pass the principal balance in later years to children and grandchildren at discounted values for federal gift tax purposes, the CLT fits.

D) Charitable Gifts and Beneficiaries

Charitable Gifts: The simplest way to give to a charity is to make an outright gift. Donors of charitable gifts can be motivated to give because of receiving income tax benefits. The charitable gift must be properly structured to maximize the tax advantages. Some of these factors to consider include:
* The type of property given (e.g. cash, stock, real estate)
* The fair market value and tax cost basis of the property given
* The donor’s contribution base (adjusted gross income without
regard to net operating loss)
* Whether a short-term or long-term gain presently exists on property
given
* The donor’s income tax bracket before and after making the gift

The simplest way to remember a charitable religious, educational or medical institution (e.g. Local church, Missions, Bible College, Biblical Foundation or hospital), is to leave a bequest upon your death. The bequest can take several forms: cash, residuary or contingency. A cash bequest would be a specific dollar amount. A residuary bequest allows the beneficiary to receive everything after estate expenses and other specific bequests have been made. A contingency bequest allows the beneficiary to receive assets only in the event of death of the other specified beneficiaries.

Charitable Beneficiaries: Only certain charities qualify as “Charities” under the Internal Revenue Code. IRS Publication 78, Cumulative List of Organizations, lists most qualified organizations and is updated annually.

E) Charitable Foundations

A Charitable Foundation can be established by either creating a trust or a nonprofit corporation. A family foundation can create several types of foundations: a) a private operating foundation b) a private non-operating foundation or c) a supporting organization.

Regardless of your choice, your children and their descendants can direct charitable distributions of the foundations income and principal and receive reasonable fees for their services to carry out the charitable purposes directed.

F) Charitable Planning Strategies

There is no “one-trust-fits-all” Charitable Remainder Trust. The type of trust a particular individual needs depends on their financial requirements and planning goals. For example:
CRAT’s: should be used to guarantee an income flow.
CRUT’s: should be used to shelter capital gains & provide inflation hedges.
NIMCRUT’s: should be used to defer income until retirement.

Increasing your income and meeting the CRT 10% to charity requirement can be solved by considering the following:
1) Dividing your property into two portions. Create two separate CRT’s with the trust maker as the only income beneficiary using a single-life expectancy table instead of joint.
2) Transfer all of your property to the older spouse. If the older spouse can qualify and the premiums are not out of sight, purchase a life insurance policy on that spouse owned by an ILIT for the benefit of the younger spouse and children.
3) Transfer your property to one spouse who funds the trust and name both of you as income beneficiaries.
4) Establish the trust for a number of years. For a term not to exceed 20 years, increase payout rate and keep the remainder interest above the 10% requirement.

G) Income and Estate Tax Strategies

Strategies to avoid income tax, capital gains and estate taxes include but are not limited to the following:
1) Tax-free exchange (Section 1031) of real estate property. Increase income, reduce taxable income by increased depreciable basis and totally defer capital gain tax by like-kind (realty for realty) exchange as tenant-in-common.
2) Contribute property to a Charitable Remainder Trust, sell the property without paying capital gains tax, live on contractual income and benefit from income tax deduction equal to the present value of the remainder interest the trust gave to charity (available for 5 year carryforward).
3) Name CRT as beneficiary of your Individual Retirement Account.
4) Gifting highly appreciated stock to charity. Provides charitable income tax deduction and avoids paying capital gains tax.
5) Create an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust; keeps insurance proceeds out of your taxable estate and can provide funds for impending estate taxes.
6) Leverage use of your unified credit equivalent before death.
7) Make annual gifting ($11,000 annually) to heirs utilizing Roth IRA’s , UGMA’s, Regular IRA’s, or combination where permissible.
8) Establish a private annuity and use as an estate freezing strategy.
9) Establish a family limited partnership to gift to children and grand-children utilizing discounting methods. Shift income and capital gains to heirs (age 14 and above) and reduce tax burden through lower ordinary income and capital gains tax brackets.