The Instability of Charitable Bequests
Estate planning is not just a technical exercise. To be successful it requires ongoing client communication and support. This is especially true for charities. Research shows that estate plans destabilize as death approaches. Charities assume bequest intentions are firm, but 48% of estate donors change their minds (and wills) if there is no communication from the charity within two years of death. This represents failure at every level.
Nobel Peace Prize’s Breach of Trust?
In the charitable world, restrictive trust terms may reduce public benefit over time because the needs of society and effective responses change. Would the Nobel Peace Prize have its international prominence and moral authority if it remained rooted in a 19th century world view of what a peacemaker looks like?
Valuing In-Kind Donations
There is a saying among charitable gift planners: “beware of donors of in-kind property with valuations in hand.” In other words, some gifts may be too good to be true. This folk wisdom contains a serious point. Donors, executors and charities often struggle with the valuation of in-kind donation. Who commissions and pays for in-kind donation appraisals, the donor or charity? Does the valuation have integrity?
Protecting Charitable Interests
How can we protect the charitable intentions of donors from the risk of estate litigation?
Donor advised funds are not trusts
A common misconception about donor advised funds is that they are trusts, charitable purpose trusts. Although donor advised funds have trust-like features, most are not trusts. March 2025
The Two-Charity Structure
Canada has two basic types of registered charity: charitable organizations and foundations. These charity types are often paired to work together in a complementary fashion – ying and yang – to achieve shared purposes. This article is a short primer on the prevalence of this structure and how it can be used for charitable planning. January 2024
Donating internationally
In 2022, new rules were introduced in the Income Tax Act that enable Canadian charities to make grants to non-qualified donees. To translate, these are organizations that are doing charitable work but are not registered charities in Canada. These rules are now clarified with a new CRA Guidance. Greater flexibility is coming, but donors need to proceed with caution. February 2023
Testamentary Charitable Trusts
From the 19th century to about 1990, the testamentary charitable trust was an important estate planning structure. These trusts are part of the will and are funded after death from estate assets. But they have been replaced by more modern and effective charitable planning structures. October 2023
Charitable purposes and estate donations
Estate planning is an exercise in time travel. It is impossible to predict the future, especially when the time gap between planning and death is often decades. Fast forward 25 years, a charity may not exist when the estate is distributed.
Combination Gift Plans
Combining estate plans and lifetime financial plans can be challenging, especially for individuals who have dedicated a significant portion of their estate to charity, for example 50% or more. Wills are often drafted independently of lifetime financial plans. The drafting lawyer may not ask the question “is it prudent and advantageous to start giving major gift during life?”. In certain situations, there are significant tax and philanthropic benefits to start estate donations during life.
The Estate Donation Loop
It is one year after the new estate donation rules were introduced and the practical implementations are beginning to emerge. With the post-2016 rules, a twist arises when the residue of the estate is split between charity and individual beneficiaries. This scenario creates a gift that keeps giving.
Does Donor Recognition Create Obligations?
Is a donor obliged to provide ongoing support to a charity after a building or facility is named in their honour? The legal answer is “no”. Naming, however, may stir up complex feelings of ownership and hope, which often lead to misunderstandings — even after the donor is dead.
The Endowment Effect
People value objects more when they own or possess them – or at least when they presume ownership. In cognitive psychology this phenomenon is called the “endowment effect”. It’s a concept that was seemingly invented to describe a lot of behaviour related to estates, philanthropy and foundations. It’s time to give it a name.
Intrinsic v. Extrinsic Giving
There is a fundraising truism that says you don’t get money unless you ask for it. But estate planning professional know that’s not always true.
Donate to Eliminate Clauses
Last week I received a call from a client who wished to include a “donate to eliminate” clause in his will. His goal is to wipe-out all taxes in his estate by giving just the right amount to his favorite charities…
Esther the Wonder Pig and Animal Sanctuaries
I am fortunate to work with many animal lovers on their philanthropic estate plans. They are interested in a wide range of animals and issues. A recent article in The Walrus magazine about the animal sanctuary, registered charity and social media phenomenon Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary highlights a number of key estate planning and charity issues.
Donations from Spousal and Other Trusts
The issue: how can a testamentary spousal trust or an alter ego trust be drafted to enable a residual gift to charity be eligible for a tax receipt?
Estate Donations to Government
The title of this blog may provoke laughter, or perhaps, just head-shaking disbelief. But estate donations to various levels of government do happen. The trick is to ensure that the donor’s intentions are carried out.
Are Wills an essential service?
When facing the unknown we crave order and clarity. An updated will provides both.