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Give it Twice Trust

You provide your children with a stream of income while making a gift to Western Michigan University Foundation.

The "give it twice" trust is a popular option that allows you to transfer your IRA or other asset when you pass away to fund a charitable remainder unitrust for a term of years. We call this kind of unitrust give it twice 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 the WMU Foundation

Flowchart: Donor designates a unitrust as the beneficiary of an IRA. When donor passes away, the IRA funds are distributed to the unitrust and the unitrust makes payments to children for a number of years. At the end of the trust term, the remainder passes to WMU.

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 WMU and future generations of Broncos.

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 Western Michigan University Foundation.

Contact us

If you have any questions about a give it twice trust, please contact us. We'd be happy to answer your questions or provide further assistance.

Additional information

Provides Tax Savings. The gift it twice trust produces income and estate tax savings.

Promotes Fairness. The give it twice trust establishes a mechanism that will help you treat each of your children equally. This can help provide greater peace of mind for you and your family.

Encourages Responsibility. Studies of inherited wealth have concluded that many children spend lump sum inheritances, whereas they learn to be more responsible with inheritances paid out over time.

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