Charitable lead trusts are trusts that distribute annual income to charity. After the prescribed period (one or more person's lifetimes, a set number of years, or a combination of the two), the trust principal returns to the donor or someone designated by the donor.

• At the end of the trust period, assets return to the grantor.
• A lead annuity trust distributes a fixed dollar amount to Jewish Family and Children's Services each year.
• A lead unitrust distributes a percentage of the annual value of the trust to Jewish Family and Children's Services; additional contributions are acceptable.
• Donor may claim a charitable income tax deduction but must pay taxes on income distributed to the charity each year.

• Donor makes a generous gift to Jewish Family and Children's Services while retaining an asset for future use or to pass on to future generations.
• Donor may claim an income tax charitable deduction (but is liable for taxes on income distributed to the non-profit). This may be especially useful for donors who are in a much higher tax bracket the year the gift is made than they expect to be during subsequent years of the trust

• Executes a trust agreement. JFCS can provide you and your attorney with sample documents;
• Chooses a trustee for the trust (JFCS; a designated individual; a bank);
• Has the assets transferred to the trustee, who holds and manages them as an individual fund.

• Same as a Grantor Charitable Lead Trust except that at the end of the trust period, assets are distributed to individuals other than the grantor.
• May be inter vivos (established during donor's lifetime) or testamentary (established upon donor's death).

• Donor receives estate or gift tax benefits depending on whether the trust is inter vivos or testamentary.
• Future appreciation of trust assets is not subject to estate or gift tax.
• Donor transfers assets to heirs at reduced federal estate and gift tax cost. However, donor should consider generation-skipping tax.