Private non-operating foundations in recent years have faced increasing governmental scrutiny of their compliance with the Internal Revenue Code1 and evolving prudent investor standards as well as inconsistent equity market returns and low returns...
The Internet provides a wide variety of websites that present resources useful for the various aspects of estate plan preparation, including planned giving, understanding and implementing planned giving techniques, the operation of public...
For the fourth time in as many years, the House of Representatives voted on April 13 to repeal the federal estate tax. If what Republicans deride as the death tax survives, it'll be because once again cooler heads prevail in the Senate. Many...
On March 30, the Internal Revenue Service issued Revenue Procedure 2005-24 adding significant new rules to charitable remainder trust planning. From David T. Leibell and Daniel L. Daniels of Cummings & Lockwood LLC in Stamford, Conn., we have this...
California is a significant force in philanthropy in the United States. In 2001, California's taxpayers contributed $16.5 billion to philanthropy, in a year that saw $122 billion given to charity nationwide. California ranks 10th in the country in...
With a traditional deferred gift annuity, guaranteed annuity payments are made to a donor and/or another individual for life, starting at a specified date more than one year from the donor's transfer to the charity. Typically, a donor who has...
With just two revenue rulings, the Internal Revenue Service established the 5 percent exhaustion rule, which essentially says that if there is a more than 5 percent possibility that a charitable remainder annuity trust (CRAT) will run out of...
In an expos published in 2003, The Boston Globe reported that officers and directors at scores of foundations were themselves the principal beneficiaries of their foundations' assets, receiving compensation packages that sometimes surpassed what...
After a year of scandals, the not-for-profit community might find inspiration in Shakespeare's aphorism: Sweet are the uses of adversity. Charities and private foundations recently vowed to turn public scandals and congressional inquiries into...
Even with the reduction in capital gains taxes and the possibility of a permanent repeal of the estate tax, wealthy individuals are showing increased interest in charitable giving. This new wave of donors typically wants to retain some say-so over...
