In Howell, Michigan, "charitable giving" involves giving money or property to an individual or organization, expecting nothing directly in return.
Most charitable donors, while they're alive, give their gifts in the simplest way permitted: handing the money or property they wish to donate over to the person or group they want to assist.
Some people want to give a larger percentage of their assets to a charitable organization than would be feasible during life, so they formulate some type of arrangement under which the money will be transferred upon the donor's death.
If you want to make a donation that's effective after your death, there are a few ways to do this. The most frequent method is also the simplest: leaving the charity whatever property you want to give to it in your will - this is known as a "testamentary gift."
Charitable Trusts in Howell, Michigan
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 Howell, Michigan 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 Howell, Michigan Attorney?
Making a substantial charitable donation is a generous and admirable act. Nonetheless, good intentions don't always lead to good results. To guarantee 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 valuable to have a Howell, Michigan lawyer handle these negotiations on your behalf, since they will likely understand the legal and financial complexities involved.
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