For Estate Planners: Getting Started
Simplify Legacy Giving With GiveWise Foundation Canada: A Guide for Canadian Estate Planning Professionals
Introduction
Below we will explore how you can assist your clients in generosity during their estate planning by naming GiveWise as a beneficiary in their will.
As a professional involved in estate planning, you play a crucial role in helping your clients navigate the complexities of planning their will and their legacy. One area where you can make a significant impact is in guiding your clients toward tax-saving charitable donations that will also benefit their estate, giving them comfort that charities and causes they care about will continue to receive their support even after they have passed on. GiveWise facilitates these important legacy gifts through a Giving Fund, greatly reducing the burden on executors and remaining family members.
Who is GiveWise Foundation Canada?
GiveWise Foundation Canada is a reputable charitable organization that facilitates tax-efficient giving in Canada. By partnering with GiveWise Foundation Canada, individuals and corporations can make strategic donations to registered charities, maximizing their tax benefits while supporting meaningful causes.
What is a GiveWise Giving Fund?
A GiveWise Giving Fund is like a charitable bank account, and it only takes five minutes to set one up. From inside their Giving Fund, a donor can easily add funds and donate them to any registered Canadian charity, just like one would make deposits and pay bills from their online bank account. Donors can even set up recurring transactions into and out of their Giving Fund. We have an explainer video here.
How Can Working With GiveWise Foundation Canada Help?
1. Organizing and Facilitating with a Bequest to GiveWise:
The clients’ post-mortem charitable gifts can be represented and deployed with a single worksheet that is filled out inter-vivos and held on file with GiveWise.
The will only needs to name a marketable asset, cash amount, or percentage from the estate to be donated to GiveWise, and GiveWise takes it from there, without any further work by the executor or family members.
In the Bequest Instructions held with GiveWise, the client can name one or more successor advisors (family and/or loved ones), multiple charities, lump sum or recurring amounts, and timelines. By naming and utilizing GiveWise, there is only one tax receipt to keep track of instead of multiple, and one point of connection for the executor.
2. Access to Tax Advantages:
As an estate planner, it is important to ensure that your clients understand the potential tax advantages of charitable giving through post-mortem bequests.
By utilizing a GiveWise Giving Fund, a client’s estate can receive enhanced tax benefits, including tax deductions, donation tax credits, and the potential elimination of capital gains tax on donated appreciated securities.
3. Encouraging In-Kind Donations:
GiveWise Foundation Canada offers a unique advantage by accepting in-kind donations, such as securities, mutual funds, and real estate.
By donating appreciated securities directly to GiveWise Foundation Canada, estates can avoid paying capital gains tax while still receiving a charitable tax receipt for the fair market value of the donation.
4. Ensuring Compliance and Reporting:
As an estate planning professional, it is essential to stay up to date with the ever-changing tax regulations and requirements.
GiveWise Foundation Canada maintains a rigorous compliance process, ensuring that all donations meet the necessary legal and reporting obligations.
GiveWise’s policies and guidelines take the burden from you and the estate, ensuring full charitable compliance.
5. Leveraging Networking Opportunities:
Consider engaging with the Canadian Association of Gift Planners (CAGP) and with local Estate Planning Councils.
Attending events, workshops, and seminars organized by these organizations can enhance your expertise in charitable giving and keep you informed about emerging trends and best practices.
Many of these events offer continuing education credits for financial professionals.
Conclusion
By proactively incorporating generosity through GiveWise Foundation Canada into your estate planning discussions, you can empower your clients to make a difference while maximizing their tax savings in the present, future, and beyond their lifetime. Many studies show that these conversations create lasting generational relationships between financial professionals and their clients.
Allow GiveWise Foundation Canada to educate your clients about the advantages of partnering with the foundation and guide them in developing strategic donation plans, all while ensuring compliance with tax regulations.
Together, we can make a meaningful impact on causes that matter, while optimizing your clients' generosity during their lives and beyond.
For more information, please contact:
Dan Kyte Director of Finance and Investments Email: dan.kyte@givewise.ca Phone: 604.615.2141
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