What is a Charitable Lead Annuity Trust? | IRS Definition of a Charitable Lead Annuity Trust

There are many types of charitable trusts available, depending on whether a donor wants to maintain their assets moving forward, or whether they would prefer to have regular payments given to their beneficiaries. A charitable lead annuity trust holds a donor’s assets within a trust account, managed by a trustee, and then sends payments to the charity for the donation of the trust. Once the trust is finished, the assets go back to the donor.

This can be an easy way to manage an asset for a donor, because the donor doesn’t need to pay taxes on the asset or otherwise manage the asset during this time. Since the proceeds are going to charity, the asset itself is allowed to appreciate in value during that time, but the income will be going to the charity itself. The trust will need to have its own tax ID because it will be an entirely separate entity.

There are also other types of charitable trusts, such as trusts that give the assets to charity but pay out to beneficiaries instead. These are all parts of long-term estate planning.

 

Written by Maurice Mallory