Philanthropy/Charitable Giving

Total 173 Posts

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

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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….

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

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

Private foundations & private company shares

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Philanthropic individuals that own their wealth in a private company may want to set-up a charitable legacy by donating some of their shares or debt to a private foundation. Although this sounds like a great idea, caution needs to be exercised. Donations of private company shares or debt to a private foundation may not result in a charitable donation tax credit under the Income Tax Act (ITA) due to the….

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Charitable Giving, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Tax Issues

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

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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