Charitable giving in Jonesboro, Arkansas is the donating 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 ways to give a charitable gift that does not take effect until after the donor dies. The easiest and least intricate way to do this is a simple testamentary gift in a will - wherein a specific amount of the donor's money is transferred to the charity upon the donor's death.

Charitable Trusts in Jonesboro, Arkansas

Legal arrangements identified 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.

Under a charitable trust, the money going to the charity technically still belongs to the donor. However, the charity, acting as a trustee, has authority to use it for charitable purposes (what the money can and can't be used for should be clearly laid out in the trust).

The most customary kind of charitable trust in Jonesboro, Arkansas is a charitable remainder trust. This permits 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 typically 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 full ownership of the original fund.

If you wish to set up a charitable trust in you should check with the IRS and equivalent state agencies to ensure that the charity you want to help is registered with them. This will help make sure that your money is used for a good cause (and not to line somebody's pockets) and that your contribution will be tax-deductible.

Do I Need a Jonesboro, Arkansas Attorney?

Making a substantial charitable donation is a generous and admirable act. However, good intentions don't always lead to good results. To ensure that your donation has the most positive impact possible, you should discuss the matter in detail with representatives of the organization(s) you want to donate to. It might be advantageous to have a Jonesboro, Arkansas lawyer handle these negotiations on your behalf, since they will likely understand the legal and financial complexities involved.