In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, charitable giving is when a person transfers something to an organization or individual, without consideration (getting something directly in return). This is for the purpose of advancing some type of cause, helping people in need, or any other altruistic motive.

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

What if, on the other hand, a donor wishes to give everything they own (or a substantial chunk of everything they own) to a charity? This is quite 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 authorizing a person to have as much of their money as they want transferred to a charity of their choice after their death.

If you decide to make a sizable donation to a charity that will not directly occur until after your death, the easiest (and most typically-used) method is to simply leave the desired amount of money or property to the charitable organization in your will.

Charitable Trusts in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

A charitable trust is an arrangement by which a large amount of money can be directed to a charity after the death of the donor, or during the donor's life.

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.

If a person decides to set up a charitable trust in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, they typically 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 (typically 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 valid. Sadly, there are quite a few fraudulent charities out there. The ideal 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 Portsmouth, New Hampshire 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 advantageous to have a Portsmouth, New Hampshire lawyer handle these negotiations on your behalf, since they will likely understand the legal and financial complexities involved.