You can benefit from the tax savings that result from supporting the Catholic Church without giving up the assets that you’d like your family to receive someday with a donation in the form of a charitable lead trust.

There are two ways that charitable lead trusts make payments to the Church:

A charitable lead annuity trust pays a fixed amount each year to the Church and is more attractive when interest rates are low.

A charitable lead unitrust pays a variable amount each year based on the value of the assets in the trust. With a unitrust, if the trust’s assets go up in value, for example, the payments to the Church go up as well.

An Example of How It Works

George would like to support the Catholic Church and receive tax benefits. George received a windfall amount of income and needs a large income tax deduction to offset the income. Following his advisor’s recommendation, George funds a grantor charitable lead annuity trust with assets valued at $1,000,000. George’s trust pays $60,000 (6% of the initial fair market value) to the Catholic Church each year for 15 years, which will total $900,000. After that, the balance in the trust reverts back to George. He receives an income tax charitable deduction of $614,445. Assuming the trust earns an average 8% annual rate of return, George receives approximately $1,600,286 at the end of the trust term.

*Based on a 5.2% charitable midterm federal rate. Deductions and calculations will vary depending on your personal circumstances.

Next Steps

1. Contact Melody Denson at (502) 585-3291 x1117 or mdenson@archlou.org to talk about setting up a charitable lead trust.
2. Seek the advice of your financial or legal advisor.
3. If you include us in your plans, please use our legal name and federal tax ID. For parish name and federal tax ID, please contact the parish.

Legal Name: The Roman Catholic Bishop of Louisville
Address: 3940 Poplar Level Road, Louisville, KY 40213-1463
Federal Tax ID Number: 61-0447247