Testamentary Gift Detail | The Nature Conservancy

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Testamentary Gifts

Gift Details

Benefit conservation for generations to come with a testamentary life-income gift.

Silverio Quimiz, local naturalist, looks out from a cliff over the Pacific coast of Machalilla National Park in Ecuador. © Mark Godfrey/TNC

Here is a giving tool that adds extra flexibility to your estate planning. You can provide that a life-income gift — a charitable gift annuity, unitrust or annuity trust — be created and funded by your estate. You make the provisions in your will or revocable trust, and they are carried out by your executor or trustee and The Nature Conservancy after your death.

Your estate will receive a charitable estate tax deduction for the gift, based on the value of the transfer minus the value of the beneficiaries' income interest.

The result? You help The Nature Conservancy while also benefiting children or other heirs, making one asset do the work of two. You lower the estate tax burden on your estate. You also get help in making special provisions for your heirs, either by providing additional resources for an individual or by limiting that individual to a life income rather than a large outright bequest.

Important considerations

As with any bequest, a testamentary life-income gift is a revocable, future transfer. You receive no income tax deduction for the gift you are planning now.
You can provide for a specific dollar amount to fund the gift, or a percentage of the residue of your estate.
Testamentary unitrusts and annuity trusts can run for the beneficiaries' lifetimes or for a term of years.

Create a testamentary life-income gift in your estate plan if ...

You want to make a significant gift to The Nature Conservancy but must also provide for family.
You are looking for tools to reduce the tax liability your estate will bear.
You want to direct income to a special-needs family member, to an employee or caregiver, or to beneficiaries who do not need a large outright bequest.