You can continue your charitable giving after your death.

No, really.

Philanthropy has been an important part of your life.

You parents taught you to give back to your community.

You want to leave a legacy and continue to help others after you have died.

According to a recent West Virginia’s News article titled “Estate planning and charitable giving,” you can include charitable giving in your estate planning.

You can impact many lives through charitable giving.

How do you do this?

There are a number of methods.

You could leave instructions in your last will and testament.

This could reduce your taxable estate if an experienced estate planning attorney provides the proper instructions.

You can choose to name a charity as the beneficiary for your retirement account.

Because charitable organizations are income and estate tax exempt, bona fide charitable organizations will be able to retain the full amount.

You could utilize a charitable trust for your charitable giving.

If you choose a split-interest trust, you can transfer assets into the trust for the benefit of a charity when you die.

This split-interest trust will fund a trust in the name of the charity.

Any assets transferred into the trust are tax-deductible.

While alive, you control the assets in the trust and receive an income stream.

When you die, the funds held in the trust pass to the charity.

This form of charitable trust is known as a charitable remainder trust, but there are other variations on this theme.

Your experienced estate planing attorney will be able to direct you to the best options to meet your needs.

If you choose to prioritize charitable giving in your estate plan, you and your favorite charity will benefit.

Reference: West Virginia’s News (Feb. 27, 2020) “Estate planning and charitable giving”