Charitable remainder trust

Solutions for large donations

If you have built a sizable estate and also are looking for ways to receive reliable payments, consider a charitable remainder trust. This type of trust may provide you or other named individuals income each year for life or a period not exceeding 20 years from assets you give to the trust you create. At the end of the trust term, the balance in the trust goes to the University of Edinburgh USA Development Trust.

These types of gifts may offer you tax benefits and the option for income. There are two ways to receive payments and each has its own benefits:

The annuity trust may pay you, each year, the same dollar amount you choose at the start. Your payments stay the same, regardless of fluctuations in trust investments.

The unitrust may pay you, each year, a variable amount based on a fixed percentage of the fair market value of the trust assets. The amount of your payments is redetermined annually. If the value of the trust increases, so do your payments. If the value decreases, however, so will your payments.

Discover more

See which type of charitable trust best fits your estate plan with the FREE guide Trusts: choose from two ways to donate.

An example of how it could work

Woman hugging dog Susan, 75, wants to make a gift to the University of Edinburgh USA Development Trust but would also like more income in the future. Susan creates a charitable remainder unitrust with annual lifetime payments to her equal to 5% of the fair market value of the trust assets as revalued annually. She funds the trust with assets valued at $500,000.

Susan receives $25,000 the first year from the trust. Subsequent payment amounts vary each year depending on the annual valuations of the trust assets. She is eligible for a federal income tax charitable deduction of $290,360* in the year she creates and funds the trust. This deduction saves Susan $92,915 in her 32% tax bracket.

*Based on a 5.2% charitable midterm federal rate. Deductions and calculations will vary depending on your personal circumstances.

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Next steps

Contact Morag Murison at +44 (0) 131 650 2240 or legacy-giving@ed.ac.uk to talk about supporting the University of Edinburgh USA Development Trust by setting up a charitable remainder trust.
Seek the advice of your financial or legal advisor.
If you include the University of Edinburgh USA Development Trust in your plans, please use our legal name and federal tax ID.

Legal name: The University of Edinburgh USA Development Trust
Address: 45 Rockefeller Plaza, Ste 2000, New York, NY, 10111, USA
Federal tax ID number: 52-1802057

The University of Edinburgh USA Development Trust, Inc, is a registered charity, which supports students, teaching and research at the University of Edinburgh. The Trust is incorporated in the State of Virginia and is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Under its charter and in accordance with U.S. tax law, the University of Edinburgh USA Development Trust, Inc may not receive restricted gifts. However, the Board gives every consideration to donors’ requests when allocating gifts to the University of Edinburgh.

Please also note that the University of Edinburgh has its own charitable status. If you are a USA taxpayer, you can designate it as a beneficiary in your will because bequests to overseas charities are normally exempt from US estate tax. Life income gifts and other planned giving vehicles may need to be given to the University of Edinburgh USA Development Trust, Inc, in order to be eligible for favourable tax treatment under IRS rules.

Due to complexity of some gifts, we would encourage you to contact us to discuss your wishes in the first instance. Please note that the acceptance of each gift is decided on an individual basis.

We welcome enquiries from all donors throughout the US and Canada.