Malcolm Burrows

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Malcolm is a philanthropic advisor with over 30 years of experience. He is head, philanthropic advisory services at Scotia Wealth Management and founder of Aqueduct Foundation. Views are his own. malcolm.burrows@scotiawealth.com

Charitable purposes and estate donations

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Estate planning is an exercise in time travel.  It is impossible to predict the future, especially when the time gap between planning and death is often decades.  Fast forward 25 years, a charity may not exist when the estate is distributed. Charity law identified this problem and a solution to it over 500 years ago. The solution is the charitable purpose in a charitable trust.  In trust law there are “object trusts” that….

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Estate Donations, Estate Planning, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Uncategorized

Artist Inventory and Estate Donations

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[caption id="attachment_20100" align="aligncenter" width="658"] James Wilson Morrice, The Regatta, c. 1902-1907, oil on panel, 23.4 x 32.8 cm. Gift of A.K. Prakash, J.W. Morrice Collection, 2015, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Photo: NGC[/caption] In estates, the tax rules governing professional artists and their art are both enabling and complex.  On the enabling side of the ledger, art is treated as inventory for tax purposes, which means works can have a….

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Complaining about a charity

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Charity regulators all have processes for members of the public to make complaints about the charities.  These processes reveal as much about the regulator and the underlying laws as they do about charity malfeasance.  Charities are generally good actors, but they do sometimes have lapses or get caught in internal, community, or national politics.  In a few cases, you have “wolf in sheep’s clothing” charities, which whistle blowing mechanisms are….

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Charitable Giving, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving

The Overlooked Donor

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In November 2022, The Winnipeg Foundation, announced a $500 million estate donation from a 66-year-old businesswoman named Miriam Bergen.  Ms Bergen is an exceptional example of a common but overlooked donor: the older person without kids. Ms Bergen’s estate is larger and more complicated than most.  She owned a business that was donated (a holding company that owned an operating company with 27 rental apartments).  But her life situation is shared by an….

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Estate donations that don’t get made

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[caption id="attachment_19892" align="aligncenter" width="554"] The Sleeping Gypsy, Henri Rousseau, 1897, Museum of Modern Art[/caption] John Quinn was a corporate lawyer and Wall Street titan.  A bachelor known for his many lovers, Quinn was also America’s first great modern art collector and tireless public champion.  He was a friend of literary and art legends like Picasso, WB Yeats, and Joseph Conrad. Quinn died in 1924 of cancer with an 8-year-old Will.  He was 54.  His….

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Estate Donations, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Uncategorized

An Estate Donation of a Company  

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[caption id="attachment_19850" align="aligncenter" width="471"] Donor Miriam Bergen’s photo is held by her niece, Doris Geitz. (CBC)[/caption] On Giving Tuesday last month, The Winnipeg Foundation announced a $500 million estate donation from a local donor, Miriam Bergen.  The donation is of two companies.  Appleton Holdings Ltd., which owns Edison Properties, which in turn holds 27 rental apartment and commercial buildings in Winnipeg. The donor’s wished that her 200 employees “retain their….

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Estate Donations, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Uncategorized
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