There can be tax advantages to donating money to a charity at death, but don’t let your clients waste those advantages.
The income tax act provides that a charitable gift gives rise to a donation tax credit in the calendar year in which the gift was made. And, to the extent the donation tax credit is not claimed in that year, it may be carried forward and claimed in any of the donor’s five succeeding taxation years.
A bequest to a charity isn’t as straightforward as leaving money to a relative or a friend, but most clients don’t realize this.
Many parents are choosing to hold property jointly with one or more children with a right of survivorship.
Holding property jointly has long been called the “poor man’s will”—a way for a person to transfer wealth on death without spending the money to draw up proper documents.
For someone living in a jurisdiction with high probate taxes, it can be a near knee-jerk response to hold valuable property jointly with a spouse or with one or more children, with a right of survivorship.
Moving property from sole ownership into joint ownership with a right of survivorship is a particularly seductive means of reducing exposure to probate taxes.
Holding property jointly has long been called the “poor man’s will”—a way for a person to transfer wealth on death without spending the money to draw up proper documents. So, if a client is considering transferring property into joint ownership with a spouse or children, play devil’s advocate and explain the risks