Plain-English notes on charitable trusts.
The kind of explanations we'd give you in a meeting, written down and usually with a visual. Short, jargon-free, and grouped by who they're for.
Articles
How to spot a CRT candidate in your book
The setups where a charitable remainder trust is worth a conversation - and how we fit in when one is, without taking over your relationship.
Three CRT strategies worth knowing
The flip CRUT for appreciated real estate, the testamentary stretch-IRA CRT, and the NIMCRUT for income timing - plus the guardrails that decide whether one works.
CRAT or CRUT?
The actual difference between an annuity trust and a unitrust, why nearly every CRT we design is a unitrust, and the one situation where a CRAT earns its keep.
Why a CPA firm for a charitable trust?
Most CRT specialists are not CPA firms. What licensure adds to tax analysis, Form 5227, K-1 characterization, and IRS representation.
Charitable trust planning: how it actually works
Whether a trust fits at all, which structure, what payout, and in what order - the design work that happens before the document is signed.
Form 5227: who files, when, and what goes wrong
Every charitable remainder trust files every year. What the return covers, how the four-tier rules drive the K-1, and the mistakes we see most.
Where CRTs go wrong
The situations where a charitable remainder trust is the wrong tool, and the handful of rules that quietly sink a good one - an honest look at the pitfalls.
Where a charitable remainder trust fits in an estate plan
A CRT as a deliberate estate-planning move rather than a reaction to a pending sale - and how we handle the tax and trust math alongside you.
What a charitable remainder trust actually is
In plain English, with a visual. A financial strategy with a charitable outcome - and you don't have to think of yourself as "charitable" for it to make sense.
When to bring in a CPA on a major gift
Where your role ends, where ours begins, and how the team fits together on a complex gift involving farmland, equipment, or appreciated assets.
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