Charitable giving in Prattville, Alabama is the giving of money or some other asset to a charitable cause.

The easiest way to make a charitable gift is to just give the money or property directly to the organization you want to help.

Some generous donors will sometimes give essentially everything they own to charity. This is a wonderful thing to do, but it's not really practical - after all, just about everyone has bills to pay. One solution to this is to put off such a generous donation until after death. This allows the donor to meet their obligations during life, while having the satisfaction of knowing that a cause they care about will be given a large amount of assistance after their death.

There are many arrangements allowing 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 common.

Charitable Trusts in Prattville, Alabama

Legal arrangements known as "charitable trusts" are also used to give large amounts of money to charity. It can be used to make the gift immediately, or it can be set to take effect after the donor's death.

In a charitable trust, the money that is donated is still legally owned by the donor. But this is largely a formality, as the charity gets possession and control over the money. The charity is then free to use that money, but only for the purposes laid out in the trust instrument.

If a person decides to set up a charitable trust in Prattville, Alabama, they usually set up a "charitable remainder trust," since this is usually beneficial to both the donor (or their estate) as well as the charity. The operation of this type of trust is fairly simple: at a set time (usually the donor's death) the property that the donor wants to give to the charity is handed over, and the charity invests it. The charity benefits by getting to keep most of the money that these investments generate. The donor benefits because they also get a percentage of this income, for a period of time laid out in the trust agreement. Afterwards, the recipient of the donation gets it free and clear.

Obviously, if you want to help a good cause, you want to make sure that any charity you donate to is legitimate. Sadly, there are quite a few fraudulent charities out there. The best way to do this is to check and make sure that the charity is registered as a tax-exempt organization with the IRS, and the tax authorities in

Do I Need a Prattville, Alabama Attorney?

If you want to create a charitable trust, you should first talk with someone in charge of the charitable organization you wish to help. They will be able to assist you in setting up the trust, or advise you of their preferred method of donation. This will help you ensure that your donation is as effective in helping the charity as it can possibly be. It is also a good idea to speak with a Prattville, Alabama attorney, who can help iron out the more technical details.