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Charity That Ends at Home

Fast Fact
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The charitable lead trust is one of the more complex charitable estate planning tools. To better understand the major concepts that define this trust, review this short list of terms and definitions.

Grantor: the person who transfers assets into a trust for the benefit of him/herself or others.

Trust: a written legal instrument created by the grantor for his/her own benefit or the benefit of others.

Charitable lead trust: a type of trust you create that makes payments to charity for a defined period of time; after that the trust?s assets are distributed to either you (called a grantor charitable lead trust) or your chosen loved ones (called a family charitable lead trust).

Grantor charitable lead trust: a type of trust you create that makes payments to a charity for a defined period of time; after that the trust?s assets are distributed back to you; it provides you with an income tax deduction.

Family charitable lead trust: a type of trust you create that makes payments to a charity for a defined period of time; after that the trust?s assets are distributed to your chosen loved ones; it provides you with gift or estate tax deductions.

Charitable remainder trust: helpful for comparison purposes, this type of trust is often considered the opposite of a charitable lead trust. You create the trust that makes payments to you (or other loved ones as selected by you) for a defined period of time (usually either for your lifetime or a fixed period of time up to 20 years); after that the trust is distributed to the charities as initially selected by you; it provides you with an income tax deduction.

Income beneficiary: the name given to the charity who receives payments from a charitable lead trust or the individuals who receive the payments from a charitable remainder trust.

Remainder beneficiary: the name given to the individuals who receive the trust assets from a charitable lead trust or the charities who receive the trust assets from a charitable remainder trust.

Trustee: the individual or institution entrusted with the duty of managing property placed in the trust; a co-trustee serves as trustee with another; a contingent trustee becomes trustee upon the occurrence of a specified future event.

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We?re happy to help answer any questions you have about this way to support our organization and your family.

Please call Julie Snyder at 716-862-1992, or e-mail us at jsnyder@chsbuffalo.org, for more information.

The information in this Web site is not intended as legal advice. For legal advice, please consult an attorney. Figures cited in examples are for hypothetical purposes only and are subject to change. References to estate and income tax include federal taxes only. Individual state taxes and/or state law may impact your results.