Many people support charities throughout their life, either with one-time gifts or recurring contributions. You might wish to continue that practice when you pass away by gifting a portion of your estate to a cause you care about deeply.
Philanthropic giving allows you to leave a legacy behind and support something that is important to you. The organizations you select for philanthropic giving in your estate plan should reflect your values. There are many common ways to think about philanthropic giving but working with a knowledgeable estate planning attorney is one of the best. Philanthropic giving includes things such as gifting money or time to a cause that furthers societal good. In the concept of an estate plan, this typically applies to assets or money.
There are five common ways that you may wish to include philanthropic giving in your estate plan. These include a will, qualified charitable distributions, irrevocable living trusts, gifts or donations. The most efficient giving strategy will depend on your personal goals and what is in the best interests of the organization you are gifting to overall.
You can also choose to support multiple charities in your estate or make gifts to your alma mater or other organizations. Since so much depends on what you want to achieve, it’s valuable to walk through a few scenarios with the help of qualified estate planners so you can select the gifting avenues most aligned with your goals and the organization’s needs.
Having a conversation with your estate planning lawyer will assist you in reviewing all of the details for what’s involved and deciding on a strategy that is most applicable for you and the organization that you have selected. If you haven’t already met with your estate planning attorney, set aside a time to do so now. You can decide on the best strategy for gifting to a charity for their benefit and in consideration of your own estate plan, too.
Work with our Pasadena office of estate planners to get more help.
