Charitable Donations and Your Estate

Blessing Health • August 2, 2021

Last Will and Testament | Charitable Donations

If you've made charitable giving a priority in life, you may also be concerned about how you can continue to make nonprofit donations and ensure that your money keeps helping people after you're gone. At Blessing Foundation, we know just how important charitable giving is, and we've worked with many people who have decided to keep their donations coming even after they have passed on.

It takes some planning and a bit of foresight, but there are a few ways that you can work charitable giving into your estate planning and continue to make a difference.

Make it Part of Your Will

The simplest option is making your charitable giving a part of your will. You can state a specific amount that will go right to a specific charity. You can even specify how you would like the funding to be used, or you can make it “general purpose” funding, so the charity can use it however it sees fit.

Just make sure that you're using the correct legal name of the charity. Some charities have similar names, and you want to make sure that your money is going to the right place and the right cause.

Make a Charity a Beneficiary of Your Retirement Account

You can also name a charity a beneficiary of your retirement account. If it's a non-Roth retirement account, you can donate all of your account or a specific portion to a charitable organization. It's wise to work with an estate planner to learn about taxes and rules in your state to ensure that this is a smart way to make charitable donations and that you have other options for leaving money for family members and others.

Form a Charitable Remainder Trust

You can create a trust that names a family member as a beneficiary of your IRA. They receive annual payments from it, and when that interest expires that rest is all donated to charity. There are many specific rules for creating and operating a charitable remainder trust, or CRT, so it's wise to meet with an attorney to make sure that this is the best way for you to donate money and leave something to a family member.

Set Up a Foundation

If you plan to leave a larger donation or one that will be donated over a long period of time, setting up a family foundation might be the way to go. You can have control over the foundation while you're alive and set rules for how your family can carry on the work of the charitable foundation after you've passed away.

Learn More About How Your Donation Can Help

Visit our website to learn more about how Blessing Foundation uses your donation to help people in your community. We help people in their toughest times, and you can be a part of that and make an enormous difference with your donations.

< Older Post Newer Post >