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Give It Twice Trust - Help Family and Charity

You may be looking for a way to provide your children with income while making a gift to Susquehanna University. The "give it twice" trust is a popular option that allows you to transfer your IRA or other asset at death to fund a term of years charitable remainder unitrust. We call this kind of unitrust a give it twice trust because you can use the trust to pay income first to your family for a number of years and then distribute the balance of the trust to charity.

Benefits of a give it twice trust

• Use the full value of your unused retirement account to provide income to your surviving spouse and to provide income to children or other loved ones for a specified period of time
• Create an estate tax deduction and savings from the charitable gift
• Support the mission of Susquehanna University

How a give it twice trust works

1. We can help you and your attorney with the process of creating a charitable remainder unitrust.
2. You complete an IRA or other retirement account beneficiary designation form, naming the charitable trust as the beneficiary, and return the form to the account custodian.
3. When you pass away, the custodian will transfer your retirement account to the charitable trust.
4. The trust will pay income to your spouse, children or other individual beneficiaries for their life, term of years or life plus term of years.
5. At the conclusion of the payments, the balance of the trust will be transferred to Susquehanna University.

Sample Give it Twice Trust Scenario

While visiting her favorite charity's website, June came across the idea of a "give it twice" trust. She contacted the charity for more information. The charity's gift planner explained that a give it twice trust would allow her to first give income to children through the trust, and then the trust would later transfer the trust balance to charity.

The gift planner told June that she had the ability to use her $800,000 estate to do something significant for both family and charity. June was concerned because while her two oldest children are financially responsible, her youngest, Jim, "spends money like water." June was afraid that if Jim were to receive a lump sum cash inheritance, he would spend it right away.

The gift planner explained that the give it twice plan could be very helpful. June could transfer $400,000 from her IRA at death to the trust. Her children would each receive one-third of the income from the trust over 20 years. Annual payments would prevent Jim from squandering his inheritance while giving him the chance to learn to save and invest. After 20 years, the trust balance would be transferred to charity. In addition, by using her IRA, June could save on income tax because the special trust is tax exempt.

Is a give it twice trust right for you?

The give it twice trust can be an invaluable part of any estate plan. We would welcome the opportunity to talk to you about how this trust could benefit your family. Please give us a call to discuss this important estate planning and giving strategy.

*Please note: The name and image above are representative of a typical donor and may or may not be an actual donor to our organization. Since your benefits may be different, you may want to click here to view a color example of your benefits.

Contact us

If you have any questions about a give it twice trust, please contact us. We would be happy to assist you and answer any questions you might have.