Philanthropy/Charitable Giving

Total 170 Posts

A Statue in the Wrong Square

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Regular readers of the All About Estates blog may recall that each spring I write on legacy and how we honour the dead.  This usually involves a trip to a cemetery.  My cemetery visit this year was thwarted by a seagull attack – see my Hitchcockian video – so instead I will turn my attention to a historical bequest and recognition debacle. Bartolomeo Colleoni (1400-1475) was Lombardy-born general who served….

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Estate Donations, Estate Litigation, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving

Donation Tax Credit Mismatch

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It is a truism that Canadians who donate enough to charity at death can eliminate tax. This outcome is due to the 100% contribution limit for gifts by will and direct designation gift of registered funds and life insurance.  Since 2015, however, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Yukon have increased the top marginal tax rate, but not top donation tax credit rates.  In many cases estates with large donations to….

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Estate Donations, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Uncategorized

You can’t wear two pairs of shoes at a time

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This Blog was written by: Robert Boyd To anyone who may have a pang of guilt when approaching the counter at an airport duty free with a bottle under each arm, there was no need, you were indirectly contributing to global education and medical research. Chuck Feeney grew up in very modest circumstances in New Jersey in the 1930’s and went on to pioneer the concept of duty free. As….

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Charitable Giving, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Uncategorized

Endowments and Perpetuity

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“Is perpetuity 21 years?” asked a charity colleague.  “No, it’s forever, until the end of time, or as long as we collectively exist,” I answered.  Despite my pedantic response, the question is a good one because it underscores the inherent meaninglessness of the phrase “in perpetuity” in relation to charitable endowments. My colleague’s charity was reviewing its endowment policy and having an internal debate about the term of funds.  One opinion….

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Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Uncategorized

Does Donor Recognition Create Obligations?

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Is a donor obliged to provide ongoing support to a charity after a building or facility is named in their honour?  The legal answer is “no”.  Naming, however, may stir up complex feelings of ownership and hope, which often lead to misunderstandings — even after the donor is dead. Ownership Donors and their descendants understandably feel ownership for a facility in the family name.  The place, for example, may define….

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

Estate Donations = Faster Distributions

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[caption id="attachment_4590" align="alignright" width="761"] Faster Distributions of Estate Donations[/caption] Matt Johnston, my tax colleague at Scotiatrust, says the 12-month tax filing deadline is upon us. The initial round of major distributions to charities will occur in January 2017 under the “estate donation” rules introduced in 2016. As mentioned in my previous blog, executors and their advisors are discovering that new rules create new procedures. And the new procedures may lead….

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Estate Administration, Estate Donations, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving
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