Life Insurance

Many people are holding onto life insurance policies that they no longer need. This can be a wonderful tool to use for a charitable gift.

The easiest way to accomplish this is by simply changing the death benefit beneficiary to a charity like Concerned Women for America, or designating CWA to receive the dividends paid.

You can also transfer ownership of a paid-up policy to the charity, which may make you eligible for a substantial tax deduction.

Additionally, life insurance can be combined with other vehicles in your estate plans to help you accomplish your overall objectives. One common example is called a Wealth Replacement Trust. This involves setting up a charitable remainder trust (CRT), then using a portion of the CRT payments to pay the premiums on a life insurance policy. The life insurance policy, which is usually held in a separate trust, designates your heirs as the beneficiaries (thus "replacing" a portion or all of the amount that will eventually be given to charity through the CRT).