The Investment Scientist

[Guest Post by Christopher Guest] Many people I work with to plan their estate want to make some type of charitable gift. Charitable giving through a person’s estate plan falls into three categories: a simple bequest through a will, a charitable remainder trust or a charitable lead trust¹. Most people want to make an altruistic donation to some cause that holds a special place in their heart. However, for the more sophisticated estates, charitable giving can be a valuable estate tax planning tool.

The simplest and most popular form of charitable giving is a bequest through a will. Basically, there will be a clause in the will that says “I give X amount of money to charity Y.” If the estate plan is more sophisticated, the bequest could be based on a percentage of the estate’s value or a part of the residue of the estate². Like all charitable bequests, it is tax deductible.

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