Indiana Estate Planning & Elder Law

Friends of the Firm Friday - Epilepsy Foundation Indiana

 

 

 

 

 

We recently met with Ryan Keys, Executive Director of  Epilepsy Foundation Indiana, the local chapter headquartered in Indianapolis, to learn more about the organization. The mission of the Epilepsy Foundation is to lead the fight to overcome the challenges of living with epilepsy and to accelerate therapies to stop seizures, find cures, and save lives. 

Laura Thrall, Epilepsy Foundation President and CEO has been guiding the organization to serve 3.4 million Americans living with epilepsy. Of those, 69,500 are living in Indiana and are actively served by Epilepsy Foundation Indiana. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo of the Evansville Walk provided by Epilepsy Foundation Indiana. 

As depicted above, Epilepsy Foundation Indiana serves the community in many ways. For families and individuals battling epilepsy, they offer support groups, trainings, camps, activities, ways to share testimonials, and local resources. The chapter offers free education, consultation and support for anyone affected by epilepsy to the best of their ability. For those seeking ways to get involved there are volunteer and advocacy opportunities.

Given COVID-19 there have been changes to the organization's event schedule and offering. Updated policies and procedures can be found on their website. 

Epilepsy Foundation Indiana can be contacted by calling 800-332-1000 or my emailing [email protected]. 

Learn more about Epilepsy Foundation Indiana at:

• www.epilepsy.com/indiana
• Facebook 
• Twitter
• Instagram

What Will Become Of The IRA Charity Rollover?

You were so helpful to me in September, clarifying the IRA charitable contribution. Do you know if the government is instituting that same contribution this year?

 We are well into tax season and planning for the upcoming year. Are you keeping up with the tax laws? As many retirees and their advisors review changes in the tax laws and begin their planning, they have one important question in common: “Will Congress revive the IRA charity rollover?”

Coincidentally, these taxpayers and advisors will be interested in a recent article in The Wall Street Journal titled “Will Congress Revive the IRA Charity Rollover?”

Why all the buzz? The IRA charity rollover is a well-loved tool that creates a win-win for retired taxpayers and the charities they support. Unfortunately, it has never been a permanent part of the tax code and was just one those many provisions of the tax code that bit the dust at the end of last year.

What is an IRA charity rollover? It allows a taxpayer who is already required to take “Required Minimum Distributions” to direct their required distribution directly into the hands of charity. As a result, the taxpayer pays no income taxes on the distribution and the charity enjoys 100% of the distribution tax-free. What is not to like about that?

With the IRA charity rollover gone, retirees and their advisors now have to shift their priorities and tools to minimize the tax bite and still accomplish all of their financial goals.

Alternatively, you take the author’s lead and try waiting to see if Congress reinstates this beloved option.

Will Congress revive the IRA charity rollover? That is the question.

Reference: The Wall Street Journal (January 25, 2014) “Will Congress Revive the IRA Charity Rollover?”

What Will You Give To Charity? Consider A Life Insurance Policy

You have a whole or universal life-insurance policy that you or your heirs don't really need. What do you do? Well, you may want to donate it to your favorite charity. There are basically two ways to do it. 

Ask any widow or widower and they will tell you that it is better to be over-insured rather than under-insured. Consequently, if you have ample assets to provide for your loved ones, then you may have life insurance you really don't need. Have you ever considered donating your life insurance policy to charity?

Many of us tend to think of charity as an act of signing over an immediate gift. Nevertheless, even products like life insurance policies are important charitable contributions. What seems like a relatively small contribution now can have a big payoff later.

The Wall Street Journal considered the ins-and-outs of donating life insurance in a recent article titled “Donating a Life-Insurance Policy to a Charity.”

Basically, you have two fundamental options when it comes to being charitable with your life insurance
policy. First, you can designate the charity as your primary beneficiary and the proceeds will pass upon your death. This approach provides a tax benefit to your estate, but no lifetime tax benefit to you.

Alternatively, you can give the life insurance policy itself to the charity right now and enjoy tax benefits
right now just as with any other immediate charitable contribution. Once the policy is owned by the charity, the charity can designate itself as the primary beneficiary.

This latter alternative, gifting the ownership now, also means you can get further tax benefits by continuing to make cash gifts to the charity so it can continue to pay the life insurance premiums. This is pretty savvy, if you currently support the same charity with cash donations.

These are notions worth exploring, if you truly have life insurance that no longer serves the purpose for which it was acquired. However, do make sure your family security is assured before taking action.

Reference: The Wall Street Journal (September 18, 2013) “Donating a Life-Insurance Policy to a Charity”