Remember Charities When Preparing Your Estate Plan

   Recent research has once again confirmed that more than one-half of all individuals who die in America do so without an estate plan.  For those who do take the initiative to exercise control over the distribution of their property at their death, only a small portion include any gift to charity in the final distribution of their estate.  For reasons ranging from moral obligation to tax avoidance, a sound estate plan includes at least the consideration of charities near and dear to a person’s heart.  If charitable giving is something an individual wishes to embark on, funding and ensuring the gift can be done with very little strain.
   While the decision about whether or not to support a charity after death is most certainly a personal and private one, the following questions might assist an individual shaping his or her estate plan in determining whether a charitable gift is appropriate:
   1).  Does the individual have an interest in supporting one or more charities after his or her death?
   2).  If so, does the individual have assets that will be distributed at death?
   3).  If so and in light of tax and other legal consequences, which asset or assets would be best gifted to charity?
   4).  If the gift is of a significant amount, does the individual wish to have any future influence over how the bequest is used?
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