Charitable Lead Trust
Giving back to community and your
loved ones.
A Charitable Lead
Trust helps you build a charitable fund with your community
foundation during the trust’s term. When the trust terminates,
the remaining assets are transferred to you or your heirs, often
with significant transfer-tax savings.
A Charitable Lead
Trust entitles you to a number of financial benefits. It
shelters investment earnings from tax and offers gift, estate,
and generation-skipping tax benefits. For example, trust assets
are removed from your estate for estate tax purposes. You may
also capture future gift tax deductions. However, at the time
the trust is established, you may owe gift tax on the present
value of your gift to the final beneficiary.
You have several
options when establishing a trust.You can create a Charitable
Lead Trust during your life or through your will. The trust
contributes to charity through your community foundation—either
for a number of years or for your lifetime. And, you select one
of two types of Charitable Lead Trust. A Charitable Lead
Unitrust makes annual distributions of a fixed percentage of the
trust assets to the charitable fund you establish. If you create
a Charitable Lead Annuity Trust, the charitable fund you
establish will receive a fixed dollar amount each year.
During its term, the
trust can be managed expertly by experienced trust
professionals, which may help your trust investments grow over
time. When the trust terminates, its final assets are
transferred to those you designate; any growth in the trust
passes to recipients, often with significant transfer-tax
savings.
How it works:
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You transfer
cash, appreciated stocks, real estate, or other assets into
an irrevocable charitable trust.
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We set up a fund
in your name, in the name of your family or business, or in
honor of any person or organization you choose.
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Your Charitable
Lead Trust pays the community foundation an annual amount to
build a charitable fund. You designate the trust to exist
for a specified number of years or until your death.
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You also
designate your family or anyone you choose as the final
beneficiary of your trust.
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If you choose,
you can stay involved in the good works your gift makes
possible— working with our professional program staff to
support the causes and agencies you care about most.
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We handle all
the administrative details, issuing grant awards to
charities in the name of the fund you establish (if you
prefer, grants can be made anonymously).
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Your gift can be
placed into an endowment that is invested over time.
Earnings from your fund are used to make grants addressing
community needs. Your gift—and all future earnings from your
gift—is a permanent source of community capital, helping to
do good work forever.
