Many people choose to leave charitable assets upon their deaths. After assuring that their loved ones have been cared for, he or she can use a variety of assets, such as pension plans, life insurance or the proceeds from the sale of a house, for charitable purposes.
You can establish a fund in your will or trust through a bequest. Your gift can be used to accomplish almost any charitable goal:
For Fact Sheets about the Longmont Community Foundation, click here.
Donors wishing to designate a gift to the Longmont Community Foundation in their will or trust should use the following language:
“I wish to give (choose the appropriate statement) [A SPECIFIC DOLLAR AMOUNT] or [A PERCENTAGE OF THE ESTATE] or [A SPECIFIC NUMBER OF SHARES OF A SPECIFIC SECURITY] to The Longmont Community Foundation, 636 Coffman Street, Suite 203, Longmont CO 80501. TAX ID NUMBER 46-3894713. Attention: Executive Director
A retirement plan is one of the best types of assets to transfer to a charity because it produces taxable income. Most assets an heir inherits are free from income tax. However, an heir will pay income tax on disbursements from a decedent’s retirement plan such as a profit sharing plan, Section 401(k) plan or IRA. If you are going to make a charitable bequest, it is usually better to transfer the taxable assets subject to income tax to a tax-exempt charity — such as a community foundation — and to transfer the assets not subject to income tax to heirs.
For a taxable estate over $3 million, the combination of estate and income taxes will frequently exceed 75 percent of the total amount — even more if the generation skipping transfer taxes are triggered. At a cost to your heirs of only 25 percent of the fair market value of these types of assets, you could apply 100 percent of the assets to a named charitable fund to accomplish your specific charitable objectives.
Perhaps you would like to contribute the proceeds of a life insurance policy to help the community, but you are not yet ready to give up ownership of the policy. By naming a community foundation only as beneficiary, you retain ownership of the policy and have access to the cash value as well as the right to change the beneficiary.
If you don’t have liquid assets right now but want to support a favorite charity, a gift of life insurance may be a good option. While you retain ownership of the policy, there is no charitable deduction for the value of the policy when you designate a community foundation as the beneficiary or for subsequent insurance premiums. However, proceeds payable to the community foundation at your death will not be subject to federal estate taxes
We encourage you to work with your legal or financial advisor as you consider these options. If you or your advisor has questions about estate gifts, please call us at 303-678-6555.