The trend for people leaving charitable gifts in their wills rather than everything to immediate relatives is on the increase. Previous generations tended to think of estate planning as leaving everything to their children. Now, estate planning is shifting to charitable giving and creating trusts. This shift is credited to the emergence of smaller families, more women making the decision to not have children, and concern that leaving an inheritance to children would cause family strife or less personal ambition. More individuals are choosing to give all or a significant portion of their assets to charity or to individuals outside their immediate family unit, such as neighbors or a friend that does not have other family.
See Caitlin Kelly, In Estate Planning, Family Isn’t Always First, The New York Times, May 2, 2014.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.
