Years ago I worked at a charitable foundation of a large cancer hospital. One day I was visited by an older patient who wanted to donate shares owned by his late wife. He was her executor and sole beneficiary, and two years after her death he had not initiated the administration of her estate. Clearly overwhelmed, he believed a gift would help simplify his life and generate some tax savings…..
Get the Will done! Continue Reading »
Estate PlanningLooking back at 2013, I’ve been reminded daily of the economic weight of philanthropy. The reminders are the large-format ads that run in The Globe and Mail. Being a reader of print edition I’ve noticed that the biggest advertisers on many days are “institutional” charities — especially publicly-funded universities and hospital foundations. Some days the majority of the full-page ads are from these charities. They are celebrating gifts, donors, and….
Big Charities, Big Marketers Continue Reading »
Estate PlanningBequest donors trust charities enough to make them often significant beneficiaries of their estate, yet they don’t trust them sufficiently to tell them in advance.
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One in Ten: Why Donors Don’t Tell Charities about Their Bequests Continue Reading »
Charitable Giving, Estate Planning, Philanthropy/Charitable GivingTumbling stock markets always stir up anxieties. This is certainly true for charities that depend on donations, as well as for the donors who give to them. One type of donation that is remarkably unaffected by market roil is the bequest.
Canada is seeing a steady, long-term increase in charitable bequests because of a combination of societal factors. These factors include the aging of society, greater concentration of wealth, smaller and non-traditional families, increased profile of philanthropy, and generous tax incentives for gifts of assets. Over the last 20 years, an environment has been created where more Canadians are feeling comfortable with devoting a significant portion of their net worth to charity. ….
Charitable bequests and stock market turmoil Continue Reading »
Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Philanthropy/Charitable GivingIt is always fascinating to watch evolution in progress. I grew up with the Canadian Donor’s Guide. For the last 26 years this publication has been Canada’s preeminent annual guide to charitable giving. It started out as a bound listing of charities distributed to the legal community, but with the electronic age it has changed to remain relevant. ….
Canadian Donor’s Guide Continue Reading »
Estate Planning, Philanthropy/Charitable GivingTrusts are balancing acts. The balance is especially challenging when there is a mixture of family and charitable beneficiaries that occurs with certain testamentary trusts. The classic scenario is a testamentary charitable remainder trust. A spouse is income and capital beneficiary for life and one or more charities receive the remainder interest…..
Testamentary Charitable Remainder Trusts Continue Reading »
Estate Planning, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving