Should I Create a Charitable Trust?

Should I Create a Charitable Trust?

Creating a charitable trust as part of your estate planning process serves several important purposes. Work with your estate planner to determine the best kind of trust and how to properly funnel money into it.

While you are still alive, the IRS lets you donate up to 50% of your income to the charity of your choosing. If you’d like to donate your money but still keep control over its use, you can create a charitable trust and donate to it. Once the trust is established, you can elect the ways in which you’d like to see your money go to use.

The most valuable way to create a charitable trust, however, would be to continuously invest the donated funds until the trust can be self-sustaining. Not only do you create a reliable stream of funds for the causes that concern you most, but you demonstrate to the future generations of your family how money can create sustainable good.

Once you pass, the trust can start to donate excess funds to the causes that meet your criteria. Over time, you can allow the trust to adapt its scope, creating an avenue by which the trust can expand its purpose to meet future needs.