Kenosha Estate Planning Attorney for Charitable Giving

Lawyer Helping Create Charitable Trusts in Lake Geneva, Racine and Burlington

Throughout your life, you have worked hard to ensure that your and your family's needs are met. In addition, like many people, you may choose to give back to the community or support causes you believe in, whether by volunteering time, making donations, or both. If you are charitably inclined, charitable planning should be a topic of discussion when creating your comprehensive estate plan. 

By making plans for how to give to charity, you can not only provide much-needed support to causes you care about, but you can also realize other benefits, such as tax savings, now or in the future. Frozena Law LLC can provide guidance about the various options in charitable planning, ranging from a bequest upon death to charitable trusts and other arrangements.

Charitable Planning

Charitable giving can be done in a variety of ways either during your life or after your death. As part of your estate plan, you may want to consider using one or more of the following methods:

• Charitable bequests in a will - Your last will and testament may specify that certain assets will be donated to a charity after your death. In addition to monetary funds, you may also choose to name a charity as the beneficiary of physical property, such as real estate property or automobiles.
• Beneficiary designations - You may name a charity as the beneficiary of many types of assets, including bank accounts (using a payable on death designation), securities accounts (using a transfer on death designation), life insurance, or retirement accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s (by naming the charity as a full, partial or contingent beneficiary).
• Qualified charitable distribution from IRA - If certain requirements are met, during life you can remove all or a portion of your annual IRA required minimum distribution (RMD) from your taxable income with a qualified charitable distribution (QCD), providing the benefit of a charitable contribution without the need to itemize deductions.
• Charitable trusts - While you can name charitable beneficiaries to your revocable living trust or other irrevocable trusts, there are also special charitable trusts that can be used to meet your needs and wishes. For example, a charitable remainder trust can be used to provide you with regular income during your life, and any remaining assets in the trust will be passed to the charity after your death. A charitable lead trust will provide regular donations to a charity during your lifetime, and after your death, the remainder of the trust's assets will be passed to your beneficiaries.
• Charitable gift annuities - This is a type of contract in which you will donate funds directly to a charitable organization, which will invest those funds and provide you with regular payments throughout the rest of your life. After your death, the remainder of the funds will become the property of the charity.
• Donor Advised Funds – This type of program, which is usually sponsored by a public charity or community foundation, provides you, the donor, or someone you specify the opportunity to provide non-binding advice on how and when the funds you donated should be further distributed. This can allow for the stacking of charitable donations in one tax year while spreading out the benefits to the charitable beneficiaries over multiple years.
• Private Foundations – While often associated with very wealthy families, private foundations can offer benefits to families or business entities who desire more control of and involvement in their charitable giving. Private foundations are usually funded by one individual, family or corporation, in contrast to a public charity that receives its funding from many sources. As with most tools, there are trade-offs, including ongoing administration expenses, lower individual income tax deductions, an excise tax on investment income, and an excise tax on undistributed income (if distribution minimums are not met).

Contact a Racine County Charitable Estate Planning Lawyer

When planning for charitable giving, it is crucial to work with an attorney who can help you understand your options. In some cases, the decisions you make will be irrevocable, and you should be sure that the gifts you give will not affect your ability to meet your own financial needs throughout the rest of your life. At Frozena Law LLC, we share your philanthropic spirit and will work with you and your financial advisor to create a comprehensive estate plan that reflects your charitable wishes. Contact us at 262-237-8668 to set up a consultation. We serve clients in Kenosha, Sturtevant, Union Grove, Pleasant Prairie, Racine, Lake Geneva, Burlington, and Bristol.