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Probate & Trust Law Section Conference Manual ... - Minnesota CLE

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2. What is the donor’s relationship with this charity?<br />

3. Did the charity approach the donor about making this gift?<br />

With this information, advisors can critically assess the structure and form of the<br />

charitable gift that will work best for the client. This may involve suggesting the<br />

contribution of a different type of asset (e.g., retirement account rather than a cash<br />

bequest) or a different structure for a gift (e.g., a donor advised fund rather than a private<br />

foundation).<br />

II.<br />

CHARITABLE REMAINDER TRUSTS (“CRTs”).<br />

A. Overview.<br />

1. A CRT is an irrevocable trust that pays one or more noncharitable<br />

beneficiaries a defined annual amount for a period of years. At the end of<br />

this period, the remaining trust property is transferred to one or more<br />

charitable organizations. CRTs are governed by § 664 of the Internal<br />

Revenue Code.<br />

2. When considering whether a CRT is a good match for a particular donor,<br />

it is necessary to consider the following elements: time and form of<br />

creation; funding of the CRT; form of the annual payments; recipients of<br />

the annual payments; charitable remainder interest; and tax considerations.<br />

B. Creation of the <strong>Trust</strong>.<br />

1. A CRT is an irrevocable trust. This means that once the donor creates the<br />

trust, he or she cannot revoke or unilaterally modify it.<br />

2. A donor can create a CRT during his or her life (an “intervivos CRT”) or<br />

at the time of the donor’s death (a “testamentary CRT”).<br />

3. The trust term of a CRT can be based on the lives of one or more named<br />

individuals or a term of years (not to exceed 20 years).<br />

a. A trust term could also consist of some combination of the life of<br />

an individual and a term of years (e.g., shorter of a term of years or<br />

the life of the donor). However, some combinations are not<br />

permitted, such as a trust for the life of an individual plus a term of<br />

years. Treas. Reg. § 664-3-(a)(5)(i).<br />

b. The trust agreement may also provide that the term will end upon<br />

the occurrence of a “qualified contingency.” See IRC § 664(f).<br />

Almost any event outside of the donor’s control can serve as a<br />

qualified contingency.<br />

2

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