Can I use my Last Will and Testament to make charitable gifts?

You can make charitable gifts in your Will; however, there are a number of drawbacks to using this method for anything but a small, one time gift. For most people, the number one disadvantage to making charitable gifts in a Will is that doing so does not allow you to retain any control over how the gift is used by the beneficiary. Typically, when a gift is made in your Will the funds or assets gifted become the property of the recipient with no strings attached. In addition, if you wish to make any changes to the gifts you make in your Will, you may need to revoke your Will and execute a new one. Adding a charitable gift, therefore, would require you to execute a new Will which is rather cumbersome. Finally, by waiting to make your charitable gift in your Will you miss out on any potential tax benefits you might get from those gifts and, instead, your estate may incur and estate tax debt because the assets remained in your estate until after your death.