Charitable Trust Has Tax Savings & Lifetime Payments

Knowledgeable, Efficient Help for Charitable Trusts

A charitable trust lets you leave money to a charity and get a current tax deduction and lifetime payments. If it is combined with a life insurance trust, your heirs can still get the value of the amount you donate, or more.

San Diego Law Firm can evaluate your personal and tax situation and create the best possible charitable trust for you knowledgeably, efficiently, and caringly. From our San Diego, California law offices, we handle charitable trusts throughout California, including Riverside, Imperial, Los Angeles, and all southern California.

How a Charitable Trust Works

A charitable trust lets you donate assets to a charity or other tax-exempt organization (such as a church or university), receive a current tax deduction for a part of the donation, and then receive lifetime payments (which can be made to you or someone else you choose). This is done with trust documents, an asset transfer, and, if the assets are not income-producing, an annuity insurance policy that together create a "charitable remainder trust."

The amount of the lifetime payments from an annuity and the amount of your charitable deduction depend on four things: the age(s) of the person(s) who will receive the income, the amount of the gift, the gift's cost basis, and your income tax bracket. If you prefer, the trust can be set up to pay lifetime benefits to you and then to your spouse before the final amount goes to the charity.

A charitable trust can be combined with a life insurance trust, which holds a life insurance policy payable to your heirs upon death. The premium for the life insurance policy can be paid from the charitable trust's income. If the trust is property prepared, the life insurance policy proceeds will be 100% income tax-free and estate tax-free. That way, your heirs can still receive the value of the assets you donated to charity.

How to Contact Us

For more information or an appointment, please call San Diego Law Firm at 619-794-0243, or, if you prefer, send us an e-mail at and an attorney from our office will contact you. Please note that making a phone call or sending an e-mail does not create an attorney-client relationship; this requires a written agreement. Please do not e-mail any confidential information to us until an agreement is signed; at that point, we can exchange confidential information freely.