Charitable Giving - You only die once, make it count!
There are many reasons why people include charitable giving as part of their estate plan and there are many ways to give. Charitable giving comes in all sizes, large and small, and there are a lot of ways to give without incurring a lot of transaction costs.
The following brochure, courtesy of the Maine Community Foundation (www.mainecf.org) is a useful tool that you can use to help define your goals when it comes to charitable giving.
Deciding to Give
Here are some ideas to get you thinking about how you might benefit a local charity:
1) Consider gifting outright appreciated stocks or real estate;
2) Consider a part sale/part gift to charity;
3) Consider making a charity a beneficiary (in whole or in part) of an taxable IRA or 401K;
4) Consider revising your life insurance beneficiary designation(s) to provide that some small percentage amount, such as 1%, pass to a charity;
5) Consider revising your current Will or Trust to provide that in the event your immediate family predeceases you (such as your spouse and children), some or all of your estate might pass to favorite charity in honor of your family. While such a calamity clause might be unlikely to come to fruition, should such a tragedy strike your family, wouldn’t it be nice to know that some good came of all that misfortune?
Local Charities Interested in Speaking with Potential Donors
Currently, in York County, many charitable organizations are looking for donors to help replace the loss of federal and state funding. Here are a few:
Great Works Region Land Trust: http://www.gwrlt.org/
Contact: Anne Gamble
Development Great Works Regional Land Trust
P.O. Box 151
South Berwick, ME 03908
(207) 646-3604
info@gwrlt.org
Kids Free to Grow: http://www.kidsfreetogrow.org/
Contract: Laurie DuPaul
62 Portland Road, Suite 15
Kennebunk, ME 04043
207-985-5972
ldupaul@kidsfreetogrow.org
To add your charity to this list, please call attorney Smilie G. Rogers at 207-467-5134 or by e-mail a smiliegrogers@smiliegrogers.com
Attorneys in York, Maine serving Maine (York and Cumberland counties including: York, York Beach, Kittery, Kittery Point, Eliot, South Berwick, North Berwick, Berwick, Ogunquit, Wells, Kennebunkport, Kennebunk, Alfred, Lyman, Arundel, Biddeford, Saco, Sanford, Springvale, Acton, Shapleigh, Limerick, Scarborough, and Portland) and Northern Massachusetts (including: Boston, Saugus, Dorchester, Roxbury, Waltham, Beverly, Lynn, Medford, Newbury, West Newbury, Newburyport, Newton, Peabody, Lowell, Lawrence, Andover, Boxford, Amesbury), with a focus on Estate Planning (Wills and Trusts, probate and estate administration), Elder Law, and Tax (estate, gift, and income) matters, and providing general business formation (LLC, Corporations, and General and Limited Partnership) services and business succession planning and real estate services.