Planned Giving

Helping you understand planned giving

If you are considering leaving the WRCNEF in your estate plans, please use the following information as an introduction to what options might be available to you. The WRCNEF has a trained, legal professional who can help explain procedures and, if appropriate, execute your wishes.

  1. Bequests:

    A bequest is a gift left through the terms of an individual's will. It may consist of a gift of cash, a percentage of the estate, or all or part of the residue of the estate after the other heirs have received their legacies.

    For the donor who wishes to make a bequest and already has an up-to-date will, it is not necessary to redraft the entire will. A simple appendix called a codicil may be added to the will to make provision for a bequest to the WRCNEF. The codicil is easy and inexpensive for the donor to arrange with his or her attorney, or the WRCNEF can provide appropriate language for the drafting of it.

  2. Charitable Remainder Trusts:

    A charitable remainder trust is an arrangement which permits a donor to:

    • give certain kinds of property to the WRCNEF, which holds the property "in trust" for a specified period of time;
    • receive income from the trust created for his/her lifetime (or the lifetime of a designate), and at the same time . . .
    • receive a tax deduction for the gift.

    At the donor's death, the assets of the trust revert in full to the WRCNEF to use as it sees fit or as stipulated in the original agreement.

    This is a fairly handy planned giving opportunity because of the multiple benefits of tax deduction, life income, and helping the WRCNEF.
  3. Charitable Lead Trusts:

    The charitable lead trust is a similar vehicle to the remainder trust but works in reverse. Instead of the donor receiving income for the specified period, the WRCNEF would hold the assets in trust and would receive and use the income generated from them. At the death of the donor, or at the end of the specified period, the corpus or assets would revert to the donor or his designate. Good tax advantages exist here as well.

    This is an example of the type of plan which would allow a donor to assist the WRCNEF in the short term and still leave a sizable estate for his or her heirs, as the donor can designate that the assets revert to those heirs upon the donor's death.

    One way to remember the difference between the remainder trust and the lead trust is to consider it from the WRCNEF point of view; that is, when does the organization receive the benefit of the gift? In a remainder trust, the WRCNEF actually takes possession of the funds at the end (the remains). In a lead trust, the WRCNEF benefits at the beginning of the arrangement (the first, or lead, beneficiary).
  4. Life Insurance:

    Life insurance gifts are very easy to create and can be used in a number of ways: replacements for bequests, guarantees of pledges, etc. One of the most attractive benefits of life insurance in a planned giving program is that it may enable a younger donor to make a substantial contribution which is beyond his or her present capacity, at a relatively small annual cost.

    For the older donor, naming the WRCNEF as the new beneficiary or owner of a paid-up life insurance policy would be an ideal way to provide major support for the organization while protecting current and possibly precious cash reserves. And, of course, making the WRCNEF the owner of the policy as well as the beneficiary provides the best possible set of benefits for the organization.
  5. Real Estate:

    A donor may give full or partial interest in a home, vacation home, or farm while retaining the right to live in the home for the remainder of his or her life. When this arrangement is irrevocable, the donor receives a tax deduction in the year the agreement is created; if it is revocable, the estate of the donor receives the deduction if and when the property passes to the WRCNEF.
  6. Gifts of Stocks or Securities:

    This is a fairly straightforward giving method. What you should remember most in regards to the WRCNEF is:

    • No one will ever pay more tax than they would have paid if they did not make the gift.
    • It is best to transfer stock and securities. Before selling any assets, please consult your accountant or financial planner. He or she can answer specific questions regarding your financial situation and should be consulted before a decision is made regarding this type of gift.
  7. Gift Annuities:

    The annuity is a very flexible gift instrument -- part gift and part purchase of a fixed annual income over the lives of one or two income recipients. The gift annuity is very like other trusts, except that we are dealing with a contract whereby the fixed income must be paid to the donor regardless of the relative success or failure of the invested assets. For this reason, it is not always the most attractive arrangement for the recipient (i.e., The WRCNEF).

    Most of the time, the gift value for tax purposes is significantly less than the amount placed in trust. This fact is often used to steer potential donors toward other arrangements which are less nerve-wracking for the recipient. But the gift annuity, if managed correctly, can be very profitable for all concerned.
  8. Qualified IRA Donations

    The Pension Protection Act of 2006 allows donors who are 70 1/2 years old and above to give up to $100,000 in 2006 and 2007 from an IRA directly to a charity. The key is giving directly from the IRA to a charity and not taking the funds in an individuals name.

    The big incentive here is that the charitable donation from your IRA will satisfy your required minimum distribution. You won't have to pay tax on the amount of your required distribution that you give to charity. This can lower your income and maybe even cut down the tax you pay on Social Security income, not to mention the tax deductions, exemptions, and credits that are lost when your income increases. So, if you normally make donations anyway, you should now make those donations from your IRA and thereby reduce your taxable income.

    This provision is especially good for those who do not itemize their deductions (those who take a standard deduction) and would not normally be able to deduct gifts to charity. By not having to report the income from the IRA distribution, you effectively receive a deduction that would not otherwise have been available to you.

Additional Planned Giving Options

Remainder Interest in Personal Residence

You can give your personal residence or a farm to the WRCNEF while specifying that you (and/or another person) be permitted to continue using the property for life. This can result in a sizable tax deduction, depending upon the age(s) of the person(s) in question.

Life Insurance

Other methods of providing for the animals involve life insurance. By making WRCNEF the owner of an existing policy, you receive a tax deduction. If premiums are still owed once the policy is contributed, you can obtain additional tax deductions by continuing to pay the premiums. Even if you want to retain ownership of a policy, you can still name WRCNEF as a recipient of some or all of the policy’s proceeds upon your death.

Often, people overlook various assets that can be quite appropriate for use in supporting the WRCNEF. Examples include U.S. savings bonds, commercial annuity contracts, and retirement plan accounts such as IRAs. In certain cases, it is better to designate that the WRCNEF receive these assets upon your passing, but they can sometimes be used to make lifetime gifts, as well.

To Summarize

Above all, remember that planned giving provides a number of meaningful ways for a donor to assist the WRCNEF. Consider exploring the ways you could help the organization now and save the bulk of your estate for your children, or protect your current income and help the organization in the future, and. There may be a way for you to lower both current taxes and those which will eventually be levied against your estate.

With professional help, planned giving does not have to be complicated. We welcome your inquiries and will respond in confidence. Please call personally at any time and I will see that our planned giving professional gets in touch with you. On behalf of the Wildlife Rescue Coalition of Northeast Florida, I thank you in advance for your interest.

Barbara Y. Tidwell
President
(904) 744-8580