Philanthropy/Charitable Giving

It 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. ….

Trusts 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…..

Estate planning is a process that should “start at the end”. Who are the beneficiaries? What do they get, and when? All too often, however, we start in the middle. The focus is on the mechanics of making the transfer: probate fees, taxes, structures. In the March 2011 edition of Advisor’s Edge Report, my colleague Elaine Blades tackles this subject. Elaine recommends determining “whom and/or what the client wishes to….