In Skowhegan, Maine, "charitable giving" involves giving money or property to an individual or organization, expecting nothing directly in return.

In general, it's extremely easy to make a charitable donation to a cause you want to help. Whether it contains writing a huge check, or dropping spare change in a donation jar, a huge majority of charitable gifts are made simply by giving money away, with no intermediary or other complicated legal arrangements.

What if, on the other hand, a donor wishes to give everything they own (or a considerable chunk of everything they own) to a charity? This is extremely generous, of course, but it's rarely possible during life, considering the expenses and commitments we all have. On the other hand, most people don't think they'll be needing their money after they die. Knowing this, many arrangements have been created permitting a person to have as much of their money as they want transferred to a charity of their choice after their death.

There are many arrangements permitting you to donate some or all of your assets to a charitable cause after your death, but direct testamentary gifts (simply leaving money in your will to the charity of your choice) are the most frequent.

Charitable Trusts in Skowhegan, Maine

Charitable trusts are arrangements that involve handing possession (but not generally ownership) of money or property over to a charity, either during the donor's life, or after their death.

The money is still technically owned by the donor, but the charity, serving as a trustee, has the permission to use it for charitable purposes, with the exact scope of this right having been laid out in the trust agreement.

The most frequent kind of charitable trust in Skowhegan, Maine is a charitable remainder trust. This authorizes you to give as much money or property as you want to a charity. The money is then invested by the charity. The investments are normally fairly conservative, sacrificing large returns for security. The charity then returns a portion of these returns to the donor, or another person named by the donor, while keeping the rest. This lasts for a set period of time, at the end of which the charity gets complete ownership of the original fund.

Wanting to help a charitable cause is, of course, a good thing. Nonetheless, some people seek to take advantage of our good intentions through fraudulent charities. If you want to help ensure that any money you donate to an organization is really used for a charitable cause, and that your donation will be tax-deductible, you should check to see that the organization is really tax-exempt. You can find this information from the IRS and/or the agency accountable for taxation in

Do I Need a Skowhegan, Maine Attorney?

If you want to set up a charitable trust, you should first speak with a representative of the charity you want to support. You should also talk with an accomplished attorney in Skowhegan, Maine, who will be able to help you navigate the legal details, making it easier to give effect to your intentions.