Estate Planning Newsletter

• Fraudulently Transferred Property & Constructive Trusts
  A constructive trust is a remedy imposed by a court when a person has wrongfully attained property in an inappropriate way. The court will undo the transaction and order that title to the property go to the rightful... Read more.
• Custodial Accounts Held for Minors
  Minors have no legal capacity to manage property. Thus, transferring property and other assets to minors can be problematic. For example, parents or other adults may wish to convey a small amount of property to a minor without investing... Read more.
• Special Powers of Appointment
  What is a Power of Appointment? A power of appointment is the power given by one person to another (referred to as the “holder” of the power of appointment) to designate who is to receive an asset.... Read more.
• Application of a Gift Tax
  A gift tax is a tax on the privilege of making gifts to others while the taxpayer is still living. The gift tax supplements the estate tax, which taxes gifts made upon death. The gift tax was created to frustrate the attempts of those... Read more.

• Estate Planning and Business Transition Considerations for Year-End Preparations
• Estate Planning Benefits Gain Momentum
• Enjoying the Ride: Estate Planning
• Three Overlooked Benefits of Estate Planning
• Expert advice on digital estate planning

Giving to Charity

It is possible to set up a trust for charitable purposes. Charitable trusts are quite common, but certain requirements must be met.

Purpose of a Charitable Gift

Reasons for charitable gifts funded through a trust include the desire to:

• Help relieve poverty
• Help the elderly
• Advance a religion
• Benefit educational establishments
• Aid with the construction or maintenance of public property (such as a park)
• Prevent animal cruelty

How Are Beneficiaries Designated?

In general, beneficiaries of charitable gifts must have a broader scope:

• Cannot be specifically named people
• Can be a class of persons
• May be institutions

In some cases, a charitable gift may be given to a non-charitable organization. However, there must be a charitable intent; otherwise the trust is invalid as a charitable trust.

Supervision & Regulation

In some states, the office of the Attorney General oversees charitable trust activity. The Attorney General’s duties in this regard include:

• Maintaining a register of charitable corporations, trustees, and trusts
• Investigating transactions relating to charitable trusts
• Enforcing charitable trusts
• Recovering property on behalf of a charitable trust

Cy Pres Doctrine

If your charitable wishes cannot be fulfilled for some reason, the appropriate court will attempt to carry out your wishes by giving the property to an organization with a related charitable purpose. For example, a charitable trust set up to eradicate polio may instead be given to aid a pediatric foundation.

© 2023 NextClient.com, Inc. All rights reserved.