When you first created your estate plan many years ago, your financial picture may have been very different than it is today. Perhaps you have grown your assets significantly, or your children are now grown and no longer need financial assistance from you. You also may have simply decided that charitable giving is now a priority. Regardless of the specific reason, your estate plan can be modified to incorporate charitable giving in the manner that best suits your needs.
Five Possibilities for Incorporating Charitable Giving Into Your Estate Plan
Throughout Orange County, California, and the nation, there are many charitable organizations worthy of your hard-earned money and considerate donations. Deciding which organizations should benefit from your estate plan is up to you. However, your estate planning attorney can help guide you through the process of choosing the estate plan modification that best fits your goals. Some possible updates to your estate plan may call for the following actions:
- Make gifts to charity during your lifetime.
- Make gifts to charity at death under the terms of your will.
- Make a charity the beneficiary of a trust, such as a living trust, an irrevocable trust, or a charitable trust.
- Make charitable bequests through your retirement accounts.
- Establish a charitable organization or foundation.
Some of these options involve permanent decisions that should be carefully thought through before you officially make the modification to your estate plan. Fortunately, you do not have to navigate the decision-making process alone. Our firm has helped many clients to create estate plans that accomplish all of their charitable goals. We encourage you to view our client testimonials page today for a firsthand account of how we are able to assist our clients. And if you have additional questions, please request a free copy of our pamphlet, The Ten Things You Must Know Before Creating (or Amending) Your Will or Trust.