September 3, 2021

As part of your estate plan, you likely want to provide for your beneficiaries like your surviving children and spouse. However, research shows that more people than ever are also including charitable giving in their estate planning strategy.

In 2020, for example, individual charitable gifts totaled over $324 billion. This was the highest dollar amount to date. If you believe that philanthropic values are not just important to you but important to your entire family, allocating some of the funds in your estate to support charity can help you provide an ongoing legacy. Your family can also benefit from being brought into this process to introduce the concept of charitable giving to children now.

To start this, meet as a family to discuss how funds could be donated based on the collective values that you share. As you go through the estate planning process, remember to keep other family members involved as needed, such as telling adult children the location of your primary documents for estate planning. You might also use this opportunity to tell your children more about the organizations that you intend to support financially during your life and after you pass away. Finally, meet with your estate planning attorney to discuss how to designate funds to be given to charity in your will. You are not limited to only making gifts to charity at your death but this can be an excellent way to provide for a long lasting legacy.