In Seattle, Washington, charitable giving is simply the act of transferring money or property to a charitable cause, without the expectation of direct compensation. This is normally done for selfless reasons.

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

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 you can donate some or all of your property or money to a charity after your death, if you wish to do so. Direct testamentary gifts are the most common and the most simple way to accomplish this. A testamentary gift simply entails transferring the money or property directly to the charity, through a provision in your will.

Charitable Trusts in Seattle, Washington

Charitable trusts are normally used for very large donations, and can be made during the donor's life, or after their death.

In a charitable trust, the property is still technically owned by the donor, but the recipient retains possession and control over it. As the trustee, the charity is free to use the money for any purpose laid out in the trust agreement. With a charitable trust, trustees are typically only authorized to use the money to advance their organization's charitable mission.

The most frequent type of Seattle, Washington 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 Seattle, Washington 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 Seattle, Washington, who will normally be able to make the process much easier.

Life in Seattle