In Pingree Grove, Illinois, "charitable giving" involves giving money or property to an individual or organization, expecting nothing directly in return.

In life, charitable giving normally simply involves writing a check or handing cash over to the charitable organization of the donor's choice.

Some people, however, may be particularly dedicated to a certain cause, giving rise to a desire to donate a very large percentage of their assets to it. However, during life, this is typically infeasible, since people have their own expenses that they have to cover. Therefore, people often put off this donation until 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 complicated way to do this is a simple testamentary gift in a will - wherein a particular amount of the donor's money is transferred to the charity upon the donor's death.

Charitable Trusts in Pingree Grove, Illinois

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.

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 frequent type of Pingree Grove, Illinois charitable trust is recognized as a "charitable remainder trust." Under this arrangement, some of your money or property is given to your charity of choice. The charity then invests the money, while giving a percentage of the income generated by these investments to you or a beneficiary of your choice, for a determinate period of time. Once this time is up, ownership of the original fund transfers to the charity.

Wanting to help a charitable cause is, of course, a good thing. However, 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 responsible for taxation in

Do I Need a Pingree Grove, Illinois Attorney?

When attempting to establish a charitable trust, or make another charitable donation, the first thing you should do is discuss this with the organization you want to make the donation to. They will probably be able to advise you on how to donate your money in the way that will be most useful to them. And, of course, you should speak with an attorney in Pingree Grove, Illinois, who will normally be able to make the process much easier.