Charitable giving can be a meaningful part of your estate plan if you are in a position to spread some resources around among worthy causes. When you discuss the matter with your estate planning lawyer you will hear about various different devices that can be used to facilitate charitable giving.
One of these would be a charitable remainder unitrust. With these trusts you receive income throughout the duration of the trust term, and at the conclusion of the term a charitable beneficiary that you name assumes ownership of the remainder.
The creation of a charitable foundation would be another option. Many people are under the impression that you must be a billionaire to start a foundation, but this is really not the case at all.
Donor advised funds are also a popular choice for people looking for an efficient way to get financial resources into the coffers of charitable causes or institutions. With a donor advised fund you enjoy low administrative costs because they are shared among all of the people who are using the fund.
Ultimately multiple charities can benefit from your contribution, but you only have to deal with the one entity and this streamlines your accounting.
To be certain that the charity that you choose is being managed to your liking you can visit a website called CharityNavigator.org. On the site you can find out about the accountability and transparency of thousands of different charitable organizations.
When you do your research rather than assuming that all charities must be run efficiently you can be sure that you are donating your hard-earned money to an organization that is being operated in a transparent cost effective manner.
Mark S. Eghrari, Estate Planning Attorney
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