Planned Giving
Planning a gift through your estate can be financially smart

Planned giving allows friends of Samaritan House to make major gifts of support through wills or bequests, charitable remainder trusts, life insurance policies or annuities in conjuction with tax-reduction strategies.

The following information on using charitable gifts to benefit Samaritan House and your own estate was provided by Tim Estes, a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor.

Gifts Through Your Will

Using a will or a "bequest" allows you to make a gift without diminishing the assets available to you during your lifetime. With your attorney's help, you can make a bequest gift by including in your will language that describes your wishes regarding the amount and purpose for your gift. Bequest gifts may be deducted from your taxable estate.

Every year people create legacies for themselves and their families through bequests to Samaritan House. With proper planning, bequest gifts help the House fulfill its mission by funding programs and costs associated with running the House, while at the same time protecting and maximizing the value of the family estate.

Bequests to Samaritan House can take various forms:

• General - one of the most popular and simple bequests, requiring you to designate a specific dollar amount to be given
• Percentage - you bequeath a portion of the value of your estate or residuary estate
• Specific - you designate that a specific asset or property be given
• Residuary - you give all or a portion of your estate's assets after debts, taxes, expenses and other bequests have been satisfied
• Contingent - you name a recipient as your contingent beneficiary, in case your primary beneficiary dies before you or disclaims the property

Many people have already included gifts benefiting Samaritan House in their wills but have not notified us. Are you one of those donors? If so, we encourage you to contact us to ensure that your intentions are carried out and to allow us to recognize your generosity. Any gift you give to Samaritan House counts. Why not give one that will leave a legacy for years to come?

 

Charitable Remainder Trusts

Did you know that you can actually supplement your retirement income with a gift to Samaritan House?  You may ask, how can I give something away and still get an income? Well, with a Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT) you can have your cake and eat it too!

Here's how it works: Let's say you have an asset that you've owned for several years. It could be real estate, stocks or bonds, an antique car, anything of value. If it has appreciated considerably, you probably don't want to pay the large amount of capital gains taxes, or maybe you're tired of managing the property or you're just ready to retire. Whatever the reason, you're ready to sell the asset in question. Now, you can sell it outright, pay the taxes, and be on your merry way. Or, you can sell it the smart way and help out Samaritan House at the same time. You can establish a Charitable Remainder Trust and put the asset in it. Then the trust sells the asset, with the proceeds staying in the trust. You would then draw income off of the money, which you can use any way you want. Many people use CRT's to:

1. Sell assets without paying capital gains taxes
2. Eliminate the hassles of operating or managing property or a business
3. Dramatically increase income.
4. Reduce estate taxes

These trusts are easy to create and simple to manage. The best part is that after your lifetime of using the income from the trust, whatever is remaining goes to Samaritan House. You win because you get a tax deduction for the gift; you don't pay capital gains tax on the sale of the asset, and your income is increased from the proceeds paid to you from the trust! Samaritan House wins because they have an "asset" on the books and, upon your death, the remaining assets in the trust pass directly to Samaritan House. Call Samaritan House today; we will put you in touch with the financial advisors that can help you set this up. Let's have a WIN-WIN for you and Samaritan House!