A Charitable Remainder Trust (or CRT) is undoubtedly the most common charitable trust. In creating this arrangement, the donor places cash or assets into a trust, and receives an income stream from the property for a period of time (often the life of the donor). At the end of the period, the income stream stops and the trust property passes to the charity. The donor gets a current charitable deduction for the value of the remainder passing to the charity. A CRT is commonly used where the donor would like to benefit a charity, but does not wish to give up all the benefits from the property. CRTs come in three basic types: the Unitrust that returns a fixed percentage of the value of the assets to the donor each year; the Annuity Trust that returns at fixed dollar amount every year regardless of the value of the trust, and the Pooled Income Fund. With the Pooled Income Fund, the donor tosses his/her contribution into a common pot of assets managed by the charity, and is entitled to a proportionate share of the income generated by the fund each year.
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