More on Problems with Charitable Bequests
A few days ago, I wrote about a problem with a charitable bequest to a Connecticut library. These types of problems are instructive, because giving to charity under a Will or a trust can be fairly tricky business.
The biggest difficulty involves guessing about a charity and charitable causes -- and sometimes, this guessing has to be done years in advance. What if the charity you give to is no longer operating when you die? Or, what if the charitable purpose for which you are giving money is no longer important when or after you die? These issues can usually be dealt with through a well-drafted document, but what about the changes that even a good charity can go through over a period of time. While resources like Charity Navigator are great for evaluating charitable gifts being made right now, it's much more difficult to evaluate what a charity's effectiveness will be in 20 (or 30 or 50) years.
I think the rise in the use of foundations and other vehicles such as donor advised funds can be traced pretty directly to the above concerns. These vehicles view charitable giving as an ongoing (rather than one-time) process, and allow family members to perform due diligence before gifts are made.
