Category Archives: Charitable Donation
Can a Charity Be a Beneficiary of an Estate?
The interest in charitable giving increased in 2020 for two reasons. One was a dramatic increase in need as a result of the COVID pandemic, reports The Tax Advisor’s article “Charitable income tax deductions for trusts and estates.” The other was more pragmatic from a tax planning perspective. The CARES Act increased the amounts… Read More »
How Does a Charitable Trust Work?
A charitable trust can provide an alternative to meeting your wishes for charities and your loved ones, while serving to minimize tax liabilities. There are pros and cons to consider, according to a recent article titled “Here’s how to create a charitable trust as part of an estate plan” from CNBC. Many families are… Read More »
Will I Get A Bill as My Inheritance?
When someone dies and leaves debts, you may ask if you have any personal liability to pay them. The answer is typically no, even though those debts don’t automatically disappear. However, there are situations in which you may have to address issues with a loved one’s creditors after they are gone, says KAKE’s recent… Read More »
Estate Battles Over Personal Property Distribution
Creating and probating a last will and testament is rarely a simple task, but one of the most challenging aspects is the distribution of personal property, warns the article “Be clear about personal property distribution in your will” from The News-Enterprise. The nature of personal property—that it is relatively low in market value but… Read More »
Protecting Inheritance from the Taxman
Wealth Advisor’s recent article entitled “4 Ways to Protect Your Inheritance from Taxes” explains that inheritances aren’t considered income for federal tax purposes—whether it’s cash, investments or property. However, any subsequent earnings on the inherited assets are taxable, unless it comes from a tax-free source. You must report the interest income on your taxes…. Read More »
How Can I Protect Assets from Creditors?
Forbes’ recent article entitled “Three Estate Planning Techniques That Protect Your Assets From Creditors” explains that the key to knowing if your assets might be susceptible to attachment in litigation is the fraudulent conveyance laws. These laws make a transfer void, if there’s explicit or constructive fraud during the transfer. Explicit fraud is when… Read More »
How a Charitable Remainder Trust Works
The least popular beneficiary is almost always the federal government. Most people are concerned that their estate will need to pay taxes and do what they can through estate planning to keep federal (and state) estate tax liability to a minimum. However, with federal estate and gift tax exemptions at $11.58 million per person… Read More »
How Can I Add Charitable Giving to My Estate Planning?
One way many people decide to give to charity, is to donate when they pass away. Adding charitable giving into an estate plan is great way to support a favorite cause. When researching this approach, you can easily become overwhelmed by all of the tax laws and pitfalls that can make including charitable gifts… Read More »