As I plan my giving for my estate, how can I be sure that the money is given according to my intentions?

Hello, my name is Ron Blue. One of the most important questions that people who have the gift of generosity – and we can all have that gift of generosity – but if God blesses me with a generous heart, I might decide to begin doing my giving early, or I might begin to do my giving through my estate planning, my wealth transfer planning. One of the big questions is: if I am deferring in any way where I am giving a bulk of my estate, how do I figure out where to give it to meet ongoing expectations that are in my heart?

I would say this: one of the things that you want to do is to create flexibility in your plan. Things will change. Charities can change. And I would be very hesitant about leaving money to a specific charity that’s not likely to get to that charity for 20 or 30 years, upon your death. The reason for that is because you don’t know what that charity might be like in the future. I would much prefer for that amount to be given to the charity right now, so that they can put it into use rather than having to wait until you die. Plus, it goes back to a principle that I’ve talked about before: do your giving while you’re living so you’re knowing where it’s going.

So, create some flexibility in where you are going to ultimately give your estate, your wealth, away. Don’t tie the hand of perhaps even your heirs. Give them some flexibility in choosing where that wealth might go. So the key principle there is: be careful about being too structured on where that wealth goes way into the future. Do your giving while you’re living so you’re knowing where it’s going.

Click here for the September 4, 2009 Blog Entry