Charitable Remainder Trust

By gifting highly appreciated assets to a qualified charitable remainder trust, you have the opportunity to reduce your tax burden, while providing the charity with a significant benefit upon your death.

Here’s how it works: Contribute your highly-appreciated assets to a Charitable Remainder Trust (“CRT”), and name the charity as the ultimate beneficiary. During your lifetime, or for a stated period of time, income produced by the trust is for your benefit. However, upon your death, ownership of principal transfers to the qualified charity.

No estate or gift tax is paid on the ownership transfer, reducing the tax burden on your estate and enabling a larger charitable contribution in your name. In addition, you can receive a current income tax deduction on the actuarial value of the CRT at the date the assets are transferred to the trustee. The deduction may be carried forward up to five years if you are not in a position to fully utilize the deduction in the year of creation.

Haverford Trust can help you and your attorney establish a Charitable Remainder Trust, and navigate the various structures including Charitable Remainder Unitrust (CRUT) and a Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust (CRAT). We also administer the trust, making sure the proper distributions are paid regularly and assets transfer smoothly upon the trust’s resolution.