“Information Bits from the Boss: Samantha provides brief answers to clients frequently asked questions”

​What if I want to provide for a charity in my estate plan?
 
As there are a lot of different ways that we can answer that.
 
(1) You can provide for a charity in your Will by having a certain amount or certain percentage go to a charity. If you say you want a flat amount (for example $30,000) to go to charity, our office typically includes a provision in the Will that $30,000 goes to the charity as long as it doesn’t exceed 1% of the estate. That way if your estate deceases in value significantly, your other beneficiaries are not left without anything at your death because it was needed to satisfy the charitable bequest.   
 
(2) You can do it through beneficiary designations. Sometimes we will recommend to a client that wants to provide for a charity they do that using their retirement accounts since retirement accounts are subject to Pennsylvania inheritance tax and income tax at the owner’s death. Any amount that goes to charity is not taxable. We coordinate with a financial advisor to be able to do that.
 
(3) You can create a donor advised fund and we are able to work with your financial advisor to fund that account.
 
Those are some of the ways that we provide for charities in our clients’ estate plan. There are other ways as well. You are welcome to reach out to us for a free initial consultation. You can reach us at 717-655-2676

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