Charitable Remainder Trusts

Joyce and Burton had been married for forty-seven years. Not long before he died, Burton looked into a charitable remainder trust. Burton thought it might be a good idea to place some of their certificates of deposit that were maturing and a condominium they had been renting out that had belonged to Joyce's mother into a trust. He and Joyce met with their advisors and found out it was a wonderful idea.

Joyce: We met with our tax advisor and looked at the idea. When I saw the income we would have for the rest of both of our lives and compared to what we had been receiving, I was amazed! Plus there were tax benefits that helped us immediately. And now, I don't have to do a thing or worry about taking care of the condo- it's all taken care of.

The development officer explained how they could use our support and what it meant to them. It was something Burton and I did together, and I'm happy; really happy we did it when we could do it together!"

What have we done with support like that of Burton and Joyce? We've been able to fulfill our mission - public broadcasting's noncommercial, audience-driven mission. It guarantees that substance and value, not commercial considerations, govern our programming decisions.

A charitable remainder trust can provide tax benefits now and a lifetime income for the donor and a beneficiary if desired. There are two different types of charitable remainder trusts.

• A charitable remainder unitrust is a popular way to achieve tax benefits as well as a fixed annual percentage on the value of the assets in the trust. The assets are valued annually and, if the trust value increases, the payment to the beneficiary(ies) increases.
• A charitable remainder annuity trust is set up to pay a fixed rate of return based on the initial valuation at the time the property is placed in the trust. The trust assets are never revalued.

An example of a charitable remainder unitrust is available. Some additional information on charitable remainder trusts is also available.

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