Charitable remainder trusts
Support Raincoast while continuing to receive income.
A Canadian charitable remainder trust (CRT) is a form of planned giving that could be of interest to someone who wants to make a substantial gift to a charity while continuing to receive income or use of an asset during their lifetime.
The CRA specifically recognizes charitable remainder trusts as a gift of residual interest. What makes CRTs particularly interesting from a planned-giving perspective is that Raincoast supporters don’t necessarily* have to wait until their passing to see the impact of their charitable gift.
*Dependent on CRA’s regulations and one’s personal situation (donor’s age, type of asset, income retained, etc).
Why can this be of interest to you?
- If you have a valuable property but do not want to give up its use;
- If you have a large investment portfolio and want to retain the income generated by those investments during your lifetime;
- If you want to make a major legacy gift but also need income
“I want this asset to ultimately support conservation, but I still need the income/use of the asset during my lifetime.”
How is this different from a bequest?
A bequest would translate into:
“When I pass, I want $X to go to Raincoast.”
While a Charitable remainder trust would translate into:
“I want Raincoast to ultimately receive this asset, but I still want to benefit from it during my lifetime.”
The charitable interest is established during the donor’s lifetime, rather than simply being a promise in a will.
Next steps
A lawyer, tax advisor/accountant and potentially an actuary or other qualified valuation professional would generally be involved. If this is of interest, please let us know at lauren [at] raincoast [dot] org.
