Charitable trusts are a highly advantageous way to benefit both yourself and the South Dakota Mines Center for Alumni Relations and Advancement (CARA)  Trusts give you an opportunity to provide life-time income for yourself or others while making a generous gift to charity.

Charitable Remainder Unitrusts

Establishing a unitrust requires the donor to irrevocably transfer assets (usually cash or securities) to a charity. In return for this donation, the donor receives lifetime income or can designate lifetime income to others.

Donors must also choose a trustee for their unitrust (oftentimes it is the South Dakota Mines CARA). During the trust’s term, the trustee invests the unitrust’s assets. Each year the trustee distributes a fixed percentage of the unitrust’s current value, as revalued annually, to the income beneficiaries.

Additional contributions may be made to a unitrust.

Charitable Remainder Annuity Trusts

Like a unitrust, establishing an annuity trust requires the donor to irrevocably transfer assets (usually cash or securities) to a charity. In return for this donation, the donor receives lifetime income or can designate lifetime income to others.

Donors must also choose a trustee for their annuity trust (oftentimes it is the South Dakota Mines CARA). During the trust’s term, the trustee invests the trust's assets.

Unlike a unitrust, the trustee distributes a fixed dollar amount to the income beneficiaries each year, regardless of the trust’s current value.

Also, additional contributions cannot be made to an annuity trust.

Benefits

• Estate tax savings
• Probate cost savings
• Income tax deduction
• Capital gains tax avoidance

Example: A 69-year-old man transfers $150,000 of appreciated stock into a charitable remainder unitrust that will pay him an annual income equal to 7% of the trust's yearly value. The stock originally cost $5,000 and pays dividends of 2%. By setting up the unitrust, the donor has accomplished the following:

• More than tripled his annual income from the asset
• Avoided capital gains taxes of $21,750
• Generated a current income tax deduction of $60,000
• Made a substantial estate gift to charity

Charitable remainder trusts used together with a wealth replacement trust can benefit both the South Dakota Mines CARA and your heirs.

Charitable Lead Trusts

Lead trusts are a wise way to be a philanthropist and pass wealth to family members free of gift and estate taxes.

A generous individual in high gift and estate tax brackets can provide trust payments to the South Dakota Mines CARA for a number of years, with the trust principal then going to children, grandchildren or others at the end of the trust term absolutely free of (or at greatly reduced) federal gift and estate taxes.

When you set up your trust, you decide whether to create a guaranteed annuity interest or a unitrust interest.

For more information, please contact Leah Mahoney, director of planned giving, South Dakota Mines CARA, 800.211.7591.

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