Estate Donations

Total 88 Posts

Testamentary Charitable Trusts

• • 0 Comments

[caption id="attachment_20431" align="aligncenter" width="517"] Morris Minor 1000, 1963  (Source: Wikipedia commons)[/caption] From the 19th century to about 1990, the testamentary charitable trust was an important estate planning structure.  These trusts are part of the will and are funded after death from estate assets.  At one time, testamentary trusts were the primary way for an individual to support one or more charities or charitable purposes after death.  But they have been….

Testamentary Charitable Trusts Continue Reading »

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

Charitable Bequests in Wills

• • 8 Comments

This blog was written by Courtney Lanthier, Law Clerk at Fasken LLP.   We often hear in the news of beloved celebrities passing away after years of lucrative careers. It’s also common to speculate as to how their estate will be distributed. Many celebrities have either left, or plan to leave, the majority of their estate to various charities. Bob Barker, who passed away last month, has left his estate….

Charitable Bequests in Wills Continue Reading »

Charitable Giving, Estate Donations, Estate Planning, In the News, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Wills

Gifts of Real Estate, with restrictions

• • 7 Comments

Early in my charitable planning career my employer was offered a donation of islands on Georgian Bay.  Surrounding the 100-year-old family cottage were sheds, cabins and boat houses.  The donors had a vision: it would be a children’s camp. It was a stunning property.  Valuable, despite the sagging, mouse-infested buildings.  But this gift by will was contingent and restricted.  It would be a children’s camp, or nothing at all.  The….

Gifts of Real Estate, with restrictions Continue Reading »

Estate Donations, Estate Planning, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving

The Cy-Près Doctrine: When Good Intentions Count For Something

• • 0 Comments

The cy-près doctrine It is common practice to leave a gift to a charity in your will. However, the charity that the testator wished to support may not have been named properly in the will (leading to confusion about who was supposed to benefit from the funds), or may have ceased to exist by the time the testator died. Where a testator intended to benefit a charity, the courts have….

The Cy-Près Doctrine: When Good Intentions Count For Something Continue Reading »

Charitable Giving, Estate Administration, Estate Donations, Estate Litigation, Estate Planning, Executors, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Trustee, Trusts, Wills

Charitable purposes and estate donations

• • 2 Comments

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….

Charitable purposes and estate donations Continue Reading »

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

Estate donations that don’t get made

• • 1 Comment

[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….

Estate donations that don’t get made Continue Reading »

Estate Donations, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Uncategorized
Scroll to Top