Testamentary Life-Income Gifts: The Details

A testamentary life-income gift adds additional flexibility to your estate plan. You can provide that your estate will fund a charitable gift annuity or a charitable remainder unitrust at your death. You make the provisions in your will or revocable trust, and they are carried out by your executor or trustee and the National Audubon Society.

Your estate will receive a charitable estate tax deduction for the gift, based on the value of the transfer minus the value of the beneficiaries' income interest.

The result? You help Audubon while also benefiting children or other heirs, making one asset do the work of two. You potentially lower the estate tax burden on your estate. You also gain flexibility in making special provisions for your heirs, either by providing additional resources for an individual or by limiting that individual to a life income rather than a large outright bequest.

Important considerations

• As with any bequest, a testamentary life-income gift is a revocable, future transfer. You receive no income tax deduction for the gift you are planning now.
• Your estate will be eligible to claim an estate tax charitable deduction based on the gift’s remainder interest designated for the National Audubon Society.

Please contact us so that we can assist you through every step of the process.

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