To facilitate your client discussions, we’ve prepared a summary of the advantages and disadvantages of bequests, annuities and trusts. Downloadable brochures on Charitable Lead Trusts and Charitable Remainder Trusts are also available for your use.
| Comparisons of Planned Gifts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bequest | Charitable Gift Annuity | Charitable Remainder Trust | Charitable Lead Trust | |
| Revocable | yes | no | no | no |
| Minimum gift amounts | None | $10,000 | $100,000 | $1 million |
| Appropriate assets that can be used | Virtually any | Typically cash or marketable assets | Virtually any | Virtually any |
| Tax benefits possible | Estate | Income and estate | Income and estate | Possibly income and estate (depending on how the trust is structured) |
| Will this gift create a stream of payments to one or more individuals? | No | Yes (at a percentage determined by the age of the recipients) | Yes (at a pre-negotiated percentage) | No (However, this gift does allow for the transfer of property to one or more recipients with possible tax savings.) |
| Can additional gifts be made? | yes | no | Yes (only in the unitrust type) | Yes (only in the unitrust type) |
| Age limits to creating | None | Payment beneficiaries must be at least 60. | Payment beneficiaries must be at least 60. Trust may also be based on a term of years. | Calculating ages must be at least 60. Trust may also be based on a fixed term of years. |
| Fees/applicable costs (other than personal legal expenses) | None | None | Up to $1,000 for administrative purposes | Up to $1,000 for administrative purposes |