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

• 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 nonprofit. 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 a nonprofit organization."

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."

What is a charitable remainder unitrust?

A charitable remainder unitrust is a trust that can be funded with your cash or other assets that provides you with income and tax benefits and supports the work of Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History with the remainder.

Charitable remainder unitrust video

Is a testamentary charitable remainder unitrust right for you?

Retirement accounts, such as an IRA or 401(k), make great gifts to fund a testamentary charitable remainder unitrust. The trust will provide income to family while also benefiting a nonprofit organization. If you have questions about this gift option, please give us a call.

Please note: The information above is 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 create an illustration of your benefits by using the calculator on this page.