Charitable Remainder

What is a Charitable Remainder Trust?

A Charitable Remainder Trust is a descriptive title for a trust that makes payments to you or your family and when the trust terminates, whatever is left in the trust (the remainder) is distributed as gifts to ministry. There are several types of trusts, but your stewardship goals and assets would determine the best type. A trust may be funded with cash, publicly traded securities and/or real estate.

Two commonly used Charitable Remainder Trusts are the straight-pay, or Unitrust and Annuity Trust.

  • A Unitrust pays you a percentage of your choosing of the trust value each year. The percent generally is between 5 and 6.5 percent. The holder or the trust or Foundation reinvests the assets to produce the payments for you and your family.
  • An Annuity Trust differs from the Unitrust in that the income is a fixed percentage of the value of the assets at the time it is transferred and remains the same for the term of the trust

Establishing a Charitable Remainder Trust can be complicated and should start with consulting your Gift Planning Counselor/Financial Advisor for more information.