Gift of a Charitable Life Estate

Wealth Management Exchange has a good article by Randy Fox on what is called "a gift of a charitable life estate." In other words, "give away a home or vacation place and keep the keys."  As Randy rightly says, doing an estate plan is like putting a puzzle together. The best clue for a puzzle-solver is the picture on the top of the box. So, whether a charitable life estate makes sense or not for a family depends on how they visualize the overall outcome, the big picture of what they wish to accomplish now, later, at death, and beyond. As a technique, among others, the charitable life estate is a good puzzle piece, when it fits.