Skip to main content
Text Resize
Print This
Email This
Calculate Plan
eBrochure
Contact Us
View Video
Mobile Video Button

Charitable Remainder Unitrust

You may be concerned about the high cost of capital gains tax with the sale of an appreciated asset. Perhaps you recently sold property and are looking for a way to save on taxes this year and plan for retirement. A charitable remainder unitrust might offer the solutions you need!

Charitable Remainder Unitrust
Stock or Cash
Unitrust
Donor
Charity image

Benefits of a charitable remainder unitrust

  • Receive income for life, for a term of up to 20 years or life plus a term of up to 20 years
  • Avoid capital gains on the sale of your appreciated assets
  • Receive an immediate charitable income tax deduction for the charitable portion of the trust
  • Establish a future legacy gift to our organization

How a charitable remainder unitrust works

  1. You transfer cash or assets to fund a charitable remainder unitrust.
  2. In the case of a trust funded with appreciated assets, the trust will then sell the assets tax-free.
  3. The trust is invested to pay income to you or any other trust beneficiaries you select based on a life, lives, a term of up to 20 years or a life plus a term of up to 20 years.
  4. You receive an income tax deduction in the year you transfer assets to the trust.
  5. Our organization benefits from what remains in the trust after all the trust payments have been made.

Contact us

If you have any questions about a charitable remainder unitrust, please contact us. We would be happy to assist you and answer any questions you might have.

Print This
Email This
Calculate Plan
eBrochure
Contact Us
View Video

Example Stories

The Retirement Unitrust

Mary grew up on a farm. When her parents passed away, she and her husband Bill inherited the farm.

When Mary was a child, the farm was out in the country. Now that the city has grown, the farm is within the city limits. Several developers would like to build homes on the farmland.

Mary: We received modest payments from the farm over the years, including from a neighboring farmer who rented our land for grazing. Since I inherited the farm from my parents several years ago, the value has greatly increased.

Bill: Since it is a good time to sell, that's what we would like to do. We would also like to invest the sale's proceeds for growth for about 10 years until we retire. However, when we checked with our tax advisor, she told us that if we sold the farm, we would have a large capital gains tax bill.

Mary: But then she told us about a plan that would provide for our retirement. She explained that we could transfer the land into a special retirement trust. Once inside this trust, the farm could be sold tax free and the cash invested for growth. The proceeds would grow tax free inside the trust until we retire. By the time we retire, the payouts would be taxable, but we could have as much as $900,000 in the trust.

Bill and Mary's advisor discussed a charitable remainder unitrust, or retirement unitrust. The retirement unitrust pays out either a fixed percentage of the trust assets each year or the trust income, whichever is lower. Because the trust is invested for growth instead of income, the payments from the trust will remain low while Bill and Mary are still working. This strategy allows the trust to grow in value so that the unitrust can provide greater income to Bill and Mary in retirement.

Bill: We took her advice and transferred the farm to the unitrust. We know we will enjoy a very nice retirement. We already have an IRA and are planning to use that for retirement. With the extra income from this retirement trust, we will be able to travel and really enjoy our golden years.

Testamentary Charitable Remainder Unitrust: Have Your Cake and Eat it Too!

We have all heard the saying "You can't have your cake and eat it too." This phrase describes a situation where we want two good things at the same time when that isn't possible. Karen and Stephen felt this way when they were establishing their estate plan. They wanted to pass their estate to family, but they also had a place in their hearts for our charitable mission.

Stephen: We were really having a tough time determining how to best split our estate until we received a mailing from the gift planning office at our favorite charity. The mailer talked about testamentary charitable remainder unitrusts. The brochure really sparked our interest.

The testamentary charitable remainder unitrust was a new concept to Karen and Stephen.

Karen: I didn't realize that there was a way we could stretch our assets so that we could accomplish both goals of leaving an inheritance to our kids and making a substantial gift to charity.

Stephen and Karen established a testamentary charitable unitrust as part of their estate plan. Their plan will transfer their retirement accounts to fund a unitrust after their lifetimes. This trust will provide a steady stream of payments to their son and daughter for a term of 20 years. At the end of 20 years, the trust balance will be transferred to our organization to further our work.

Stephen: We are thrilled that we are able to use our retirement accounts during our lives and that when we no longer need them, we can use these savings to provide our family with payments for a long time and then support our favorite charities.

Property Turns Into Income

Miranda lived in the family home where she and her spouse had raised their three children. After her spouse passed away, Miranda found it increasingly difficult to care for her property.

Miranda's grandson came often to visit and help with chores around the house. On one such visit, he helped Miranda "surf" the internet. She enjoyed reading the weekly finance updates and donor stories on her favorite charity's planned giving website. On one such visit, Miranda learned that she could make a gift of her home to the charity and receive income for life.

Miranda: I called the gift planner and asked her how a charitable remainder unitrust works. She said that when the time came for me to move out of my home, I could give it to my favorite charity and set up a special kind of trust. The trust would provide me with income for the rest of my life, and I would receive a tax deduction for my gift.

Miranda thought that she might want to move to a condominium with less upkeep. Her financial advisor reviewed the plan and said that the income she received from the charitable remainder trust would be enough to cover her living expenses.

Miranda: After visiting real estate websites with my grandson, I found a condominium nearby that was perfect for me. I called the gift planner and said that I was ready to move out of my home and set up the charitable trust.

Miranda was thrilled that she could turn her property into income to meet her future needs and receive a charitable deduction for her gift.

Is a gift of your home to fund a charitable trust right for you?


Your home has been one of your best assets, but after the kids move out and the house gets harder to care for, you may have other needs. Better than a reverse mortgage, a unitrust is one strategy to "downsize" your home, avoid capital gains tax and provide you with income.

If you have questions about how a unitrust could help you downsize, please give us a call. We would be happy to answer questions that you might have.

Is a retirement unitrust right for you?

If you have a highly appreciated asset, such as real estate or stock, and are several years away from retirement, a retirement unitrust could help you sell the asset tax-free while saving for retirement. Please contact us if you have questions about a retirement unitrust.

*Please note: The names and image above are representative of a typical donor and may or may not be an actual donor to our organization. Since your unitrust benefits may be different, you may want to click here to view an example of your benefits.

scriptsknown