April 18, 2010 | Read Time: 1 minute
Estate Planning Smarts
by Deborah L. Jacobs
Deborah L. Jacobs, a lawyer and journalist, guides readers through the process of how to establish their charitable legacies, going over tax benefits, which assets to donate, and the pros and cons of setting up a private foundation versus a donor-advised fund.
For those concerned about their families receiving enough from their estates, Ms. Jacobs advises readers to designate fixed percentages to their relatives before leaving anything to charity.
In cases in which donors are unsure which charities should benefit from their estates or whether their heirs will wish to receive money, Ms. Jacobs recommends that readers include disclaimers that would take effect within nine months of their deaths to allow heirs to shift their assets to charity.***disclaimers are invoked for tax reasons — protects money from creditors but heirs must permanently relinquish control. also give heirs choice to give up money for charity. cb Another option is that donors can name a private foundation or donor-advised fund as the charitable beneficiary in order to postpone the selection of specific charities in one’s will.
Publisher: DJWorking Unlimited; 329 pages; $19.95; ISBN 978-0-615-29754-5.
