OKUMF- Your Benefits with other Planning Options

Living Trusts
If you have a moderate or large estate, you may find it desirable to create a living trust. The living trust is completely within your control during your lifetime. You can add property to the trust or remove property from the trust at any time. During your lifetime, the trust income is taxable to you.
There are at least three major benefits of the living trust. If you are sick or in the hospital, your designated successor trustee can take over and manage your property for your benefit. Second, when you pass away, the property in the living trust will avoid probate and potentially save thousands of dollars in costs. Third, the living trust typically is a private document and is not made public during the probate process.
Donor Advised Funds
Many families find that a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) is a simple and efficient way to help charities that they love. By establishing such a fund, you can time the gifts you make (for investment or tax reasons) and you can select the charities you wish to benefit from your gifts. You receive the income or estate tax deduction, and the opportunity is there to make distribution decisions later. Many families may use a Donor Advised Fund as an estate beneficiary so that they can allow their children or friends to continue supervising the gifts from their fund for years to come. Parents appreciate the way that their DAF encourages children to be involved in philanthropy.
Charitable Endowments
Another option that you may prefer is to leave property or money in an endowment form so that the ministry does not spend the principal. Instead, the ministry spends the endowment income (as the donors often have done throughout their lives). Endowments may be left to the Foundation or directly to the ministry with instructions for their use. It is often helpful to suggest a general purpose for the endowment fund because it will last perpetually, and the original purpose for the gift may one day not exist. If you are interested in an endowment approach to your charitable gifts, please contact us.
Contact David Battles at 800-259-6863 or send an email to dbattles@okumf.org to get a FREE COPY of the Planning Your Legacy guide.