For Professional Advisors

Charitable gifts, like financial plans, should be tailored to individual circumstances and can often improve your client's position. The following articles cover a range of topics to help you better advise your clients on charitable estate planning issues.

Professional Advisor Forms and Links

The forms and links included in this section may be helpful to you as you advise your clients. More»

Bequest Language

See the specific bequest language for the Sigma Nu Educational Foundation. More»

Split Interest Trusts

Choosing the Right Charitable Remainder Trust

When someone is interested in supporting Sigma Nu Educational Foundation, Inc. by a deferred gift plan, the simplest methods are a bequest, or life insurance or pension plan beneficiary clauses. The alternative of an irrevocable charitable remainder trust (CRT), however, can meet as many as three personal objectives in addition to reducing estate taxes and carrying out the charitable intent. More»

Lessons From the Experts

Charitable planning can be one of the most satisfying areas in which an advisor can practice. When your clients' interests and charitable organizations' interests are in line, the results can be terrific. Charitable planning is a specialty, however, with technical rules and an abundance of potential pitfalls. More»

Always a Day Away

Read the “Always a Day Away” essay by Russell A. Willis III, J.D., LL.M. More»

The Charitable Lead Trust: A Phenomenal Estate Planning Tool

Read the “The Charitable Lead Trust: A Phenomenal Estate Planning Tool” essay by Doug White. More»

A Guide to Early Termination of a Charitable Remainder Trust

Read the “A Guide to Early Termination of a Charitable Remainder Trust” essay by Ted Batson Jr. and Greg Baker. More»

Charitable Remainder Trusts: Robust Yet Underused Scenarios

Charitable gifts, like financial plans, should be tailored to individual circumstances and can often improve the client’s position. More»

Planned Giving

Gift Planning Basics: Matching Methods to Motives

Clients have a variety of reasons for considering a significant charitable gift. Fortunately our tax structure and its incentives for philanthropy have developed an equally varied array of giving methods. More»

Maximize Memorials for a Lasting Influence

Read the “Maximize Memorials for a Lasting Influence” essay by Katelyn Quyn. More»

Testamentary Gifts to Help Children and Grandchildren

Several types of charitable techniques are available to donors whose planning goals are twofold: one, to provide benefits to the donor's favorite charitable organizations, and two, to financially assist the donor's children and grandchildren. More»

Retirement/Estate Planning

The QTIP Trust—Benefiting the Blended Family

Read “The QTIP Trust--Benefiting the Blended Family” essay by Stephan R. Leimberg and Daniel B. Evans. More»

Misconceptions About Living Wills, Health Care Proxies and End-of-Life Decisions

Read the “Misconceptions About Living Wills, Health Care Proxies and End-of-Life Decisions” essay by Martin M. Shenkman, Esq. More»

Family and Charitable Planning for Retirement Accounts

It is now much easier to establish a "stretch IRA" than it was under the 1987 proposed regulations. With a stretch IRA, payments from a deceased person's IRA can be stretched over the life expectancy of a beneficiary of the IRA, which is potentially a very long time! More»

Life Insurance

Free Insurance: Problems and Pitfalls in the Charitable Sector

Read the “’Free Insurance’: Problems and Pitfalls in the Charitable Sector” essay by Stephan R. Leimberg. More»

Strategies That Use Life Insurance as a Charitable Component

While the general sentiment in the charitable community toward these types of gifts has been less than enthusiastic, there are many useful strategies for incorporating life insurance into a charitable estate plan. More»