With a JCF donor advised fund, you can use a wide range of assets to fund your charitable legacy. Please note that whatever form of bequest you choose, the assets you gift to JCF are not subject to federal estate taxes and may significantly reduce the tax burden of your estate.
We encourage you to consult with your attorney and/or personal tax advisor to determine which are the most advantage assets to gift to JCF.
You can leave money to an existing fund at JCF, or request that we establish a new fund with your legacy gift.
Giving Through Your Will
The easiest and most common way to leave a bequest is through your will. With the help of an attorney, you can include language in your will specifying a gift be made to your JCF fund as part of your estate plan. You may specify a percentage of the estate, a specific dollar amount or the residue of your estate.
Benefits of a bequest:
- Transmits your charitable values to the next generation
- Continues to support the charities you cared about
- Reduces the burden of taxes on your family
General Purpose Bequests allow your heirs to take over your JCF fund without restrictions. This empowers your Successors and permits them to recommend grants to the charities of their choice.
Restricted Bequests allow you to support a particular charity or charities, or a project of an IRS-qualified public charity. You should specify these restrictions in your JCF Succession Plan in lieu of, or in addition to, including this language in your will.
IRA – The most tax-efficient option
Naming JCF as the beneficiary of your IRA is one of the easiest and most tax-efficient ways to fund your legacy. Simply designate JCF to receive all or a portion of the balance of your IRA or pension plan through your plan administrator. You will continue to take lifetime withdrawals, and the balance in your plan will be added to your JCF fund after your passing. This is not an irrevocable designation; if your family’s needs change, you may amend the designation at any time.
Additional Information: Disclaiming an IRA
If an IRA owner has not named JCF as the primary beneficiary but instead made JCF the successor beneficiary, there is still a way to direct these assets to JCF.
If the IRA owner named, for instance, a child or another individual as primary beneficiary and JCF as successor beneficiary under his/her IRA, the primary beneficiary could disclaim his/her interests so that JCF instead receives the IRA. To accomplish this, the primary beneficiary must make a qualified disclaimer within 9 months of the IRA owner’s death, which requires a notice from the primary beneficiary to the IRA custodian that is written, irrevocable, and unconditional. The primary beneficiary must not have received a “benefit” from the IRA prior to disclaiming it (but if the IRA owner had not taken any required minimum distribution for the year of his/her death, that required minimum distribution can be distributed to the primary beneficiary without being counted as a “benefit”). The primary beneficiary cannot personally dictate to whom the IRA will pass; instead, it will pass to the next successor in line under the IRA owner’s original beneficiary designation (as if the primary beneficiary had predeceased the IRA owner). The disclaimer also must comply with any state law and IRA/plan requirements. If you are considering disclaiming an IRA, please consult an attorney.
Life Insurance
If you would like to make a future gift to your JCF fund while retaining ownership of your life insurance policy, you can name JCF as the beneficiary of all or part of the death benefits and maintain the right to change the beneficiary designation.
You may have taken out a policy years ago to provide for your family should something happen to you or your spouse, but the original purpose for your policy no longer applies. If you transfer ownership of the policy to JCF and name JCF as the beneficiary, you may receive an immediate charitable tax deduction and reduce your future estate tax liability. (Please consult with your personal tax advisor.)
Remainder Trusts
A Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust or Charitable Remainder Unitrust may be established by your attorney to allow you to transfer assets into a separately managed trust that will provide beneficiaries with payments for life or for a period of years. At the end of this period, any remaining assets will go to the Jewish Communal Fund.