September 25, 2018

Tax reform can have far reaping changes, impacts, and considerations for families who were thinking about or who are already involved in charitable giving. Understanding your options is important since giving to charity can help you to accomplish many individual goals regardless of the tax planning. The non-tax benefits associated with charitable giving are often important when it comes to planning as well as motivating your underlying decisions. 

According to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act 2017, many donors, aside from wealthy individuals making significant donations, will get any benefit from tax donations. This means that non-tax motives are the major giving motivation for donors than ever before.

It’s important to realize, however, that charitable giving can still take an important role in your financial strategy and that charitable giving can take many different forms. There are many ways to provide benefits to charities through a wide range of estate and financial plans. You might, for example, give bequests or gifts that could be deferred.

For those couples who wish to give to charity and do not have children, a simple adjustment to a scheme that would typically be tax oriented can reap significant charitable benefits for an organization since the couple’s most common goal is going to be to take care of one another. But they may wish to put together an estate plan that transfers all of their assets or many of their assets after both parties pass away.

On the death of the second person, an estate plan can help to accomplish this goal by passing on the necessary assets after selecting a charity in which both individuals are actively involved. Charitable giving often begins with a consideration of what you find important and consideration of the various goals and organizations you’ve been involved with over the course of your life can help to clarify this and give you clarity over how to proceed. A consultation with a knowledgeable estate planning attorney is a good first step.