Estate Planning
As a part of Lincoln Christian’s ministry to churches, alumni, and friends of LCU, we facilitate complete, accurate, and up-to-date estate planning services.
Through Estate Planning Seminars held in churches and through individual appointments, our staff is available to assist you in facilitating the development of an estate plan that will help carry out your wishes for the distribution of your assets during your life and at your death.
For more information on the services offered by the estate planning department, email or call the Advancement Office at 217-732-3168. Download a copy of the Estate Planning Guide and Estate Planning Questionnaire.
Gift Planning
There are many ways to make a legacy gift to LCU today while still receiving the financial benefits of that gift during your lifetime. Some of the benefits of Gift Planning include:
- Ensuring that the mission of LCU will always be carried out.
- Providing a stream of income to you and/or your spouse for life or a time determined by you.
- Receiving an income tax deduction for the charitable gift as determined by IRS tables.
- Helping you avoid estate taxes and capital gains taxes.
Gift planning include such philanthropic devices as charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts, and real estate. Descriptions follow below. Please consult your personal financial advisors before completing any planned gift.
Charitable Gift Annuities
With low interest rates and an unpredictable stock market, many have found an LCU charitable gift annuity to be a useful vehicle for providing future income. A gift annuity is a simple agreement between you and Lincoln Christian University, in which you make a gift of cash or appreciated assets to LCU, in exchange for which, LCU provides you (and if you so desire, another person) fixed income for the rest of your life. When the final income recipient passes away, any remaining funds are available for use by LCU.
Income payments to the donor on a charitable gift annuity may begin immediately or may be deferred to a future date. The dollar amount of the fixed payment is determined by your age and when you begin to receive the income payments. Because a charitable gift annuity agreement is partly a charitable gift and partly the purchase of an income stream, the donor receives an immediate charitable income tax deduction, and part of each annuity payment may be tax-free.
To determine how you achieve your philanthropic goals with a charitable gift annuity, email or call the Advancement Office at 217-732-3168.
Charitable Remainder Trusts
When you create a charitable remainder trust, you give cash or other assets to a trust that you create that will, in turn, pay you (or other beneficiaries) an income for life or for a period of years (not to exceed 20). Upon the death of the final beneficiary, the remaining balance in the trust is transferred to LCU.
The income stream that is provided by the remainder trust can be based on a fixed percentage or a fixed dollar amount. A charitable remainder unitrust will pay you a fixed percentage of the fair market value of the trust assets each year for the rest of your life. The payout percentage never changes and would be no less than five percent. A charitable remainder annuity trust pays a fixed dollar amount every year, based on the value of the trust assets at the date of the gift.
Creating a charitable remainder trust may increase your annual income and will provide you with an immediate charitable income tax deduction. You will also have the satisfaction of knowing that you have provided a substantial future gift to LCU. The assets in the remainder trust are not subject to probate, not accessible by creditors, and not included in the donor’s taxable estate.
Email or call the Advancement Office at 217-732-3168 for further information and a free charitable remainder trust scenario.
Charitable Lead Trust
Charitable lead trusts work in the opposite way of charitable remainder trusts. When you create a charitable lead trust, you give cash or other assets to a trust that provides a charity with an income stream for a defined period. At the end of that period, the remaining trust assets and any growth are transferred to your heirs.
As with remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts may provide either a fixed payment (a charitable lead annuity trust) or a fluctuating payment (based on a percentage of trust assets).
A charitable lead trust would give a property’s current income interest to LCU for a determined number of years. The principal at the end of the trust term would go to family or whomever you select. Through a lead trust, the donor is able to benefit the charity immediately, transfer assets to family members with tax-free appreciation, and depending upon the terms of the trust, receive income, gift or estate tax savings.
Email or call the Advancement Office at 217-732-3168 for further information and a free charitable lead trust scenario.
Retained Interest in Personal Residence or Farm (Life Estate)
A gift of a remainder interest in your home or farm allows you to gift property to LCU and retain the right to use that property for life. You continue to live in the property and are responsible for maintenance, taxes, and insurance, but at your death (and the death of your spouse, if married) the property passes to LCU. This type of gift is ideal for the donor who wants to give his or her farm or home to LCU, but also wants to live there for the rest of his or her life.
You receive a charitable income tax deduction based on your age and the value of the property. When your home or farm does eventually pass to LCU, it does so outside of any estate taxes.
To determine how all the benefits from a life estate reserved arrangement, email or call the Advancement Office at 217-732-3168.