A charitable lead trust offers considerable advantages if, in addition to your desire to make a gift to the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute, you are concerned about passing your assets to your heirs at the least tax cost possible. The charitable lead trust usually works best for donors who can forego some current income and are building a reasonably large estate that would otherwise be subject to high estate taxes.

To implement this plan, you transfer assets to a trust, directing the trustee to pay UC Davis a fixed dollar amount or a fixed percentage of the value of trust assets as determined annually. The trust's term must be for a specified number of years or for the life of one or more persons living when the trust is created. At the end of the trust period, the assets are distributed to the beneficiaries you have chosen (such as your children or grandchildren). When properly drawn, the trust allows you to pass wealth to your heirs at a greatly reduced cost. In some situations, a lead trust can actually increase the value of your eventual gift to heirs.

To ensure that your gift will produce the results you intend, please contact the M.I.N.D. Institute Development Office before preparing the final documents. As with all aspects of estate and tax matters, you should seek qualified legal, tax, and financial advice in developing your plan.

If you have questions or need additional information, please contact Terri Contenti at (916) 703-0289 or terri.contenti@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu..

UC Davis Health System is recognized as a tax-exempt, 501(c) (3) public charity by the Internal Revenue Service. Your gift to the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute qualifies as a charitable deduction for federal tax purposes as permitted by law.