In New Martinsville, West Virginia, 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.

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

Some people, however, may be especially 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 frequently 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 simplest 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 New Martinsville, West Virginia

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 authority 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 New Martinsville, West Virginia 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.

You should make sure the charity is registered with the Internal Revenue Service, and (if applicable) the taxation authority of .

Do I Need a New Martinsville, West Virginia Attorney?

If you want to set up a charitable trust, you should first speak with a representative of the charity you want to support. You should also talk with an accomplished attorney in New Martinsville, West Virginia, who will be able to help you navigate the legal details, making it easier to give effect to your intentions.