Planning For Good

5 Tips for Professional Advisors

As you work with your clients in formulating financial and estate plans that address their issues and goals around family, legacy and tax minimization, please keep in mind the many ways in which planned giving can assist a client in achieving all their goals. From transfer and income tax reduction to the satisfaction of “giving back” and everything in-between - including providing income with spendthrift protection to a loved-one - planned giving opportunities can address those issues and give clients the satisfaction of knowing they will continue to make a difference in the world for generations to come.

1. Charitable Giving is not just a “luxury” for high-net-worth families. Not all of your clients are tax-driven charitable givers: Those whose estates are the applicable state or federal estate tax threshold may have charitable intent of a significant nature; In addition to “giving back”, your clients may want to serve as an example for their children or other members of their family as they “leave a legacy” that may not have estate tax benefits, but may have significant charitable and societal benefit

2. Always get a copy of the IRS 501 (c) (3) letter of any charity your client puts in an estate planning document and keep it in your file. These are now available for most organizations from www.guidestar.org, so you don’t have to contact the charity to get it.

3. If your client is hesitant to let a charity know of their intention in their estate plans, act as an intermediary to preserve anonymity to iron out the terms of any gift that is not completely unrestricted. Knowing that the charity can and intends to use the gift as your client intends will help your clients charitable goals reach fruition.

4. If your client is considering a special needs trust for a loved one, and has an interest in a deferred charitable gift, consider suggesting a charitable remainder trust to pay the loved-one for life, safeguard the trust corpus from creditors and create one or more deferred charitable gifts.

5. Many free, on-line resources help the general public and professional advisors to navigate the intricacies of planned giving. One such resource is the Planned Giving Design Center, www.pgdc.com, with articles, news updates, discussion areas, technical information, forms and list-serve features. The National Committee on Planned Giving, www.ncpg.org also has a site, continuing education and membership opportunities, as would a local planned giving council, such as the Maine Planned Giving Council, www.mpgc.org. MCPG recently published a magazine providing planned giving stories illustrative of the ways in which planned gifts meet the many goals of estate planning, a pdf version of which is available at www.mpgc.org.