A charitable remainder trust (CRT) enables you to support the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and other charities of your choice while providing you and your named beneficiaries an income for life or for a period of years.

Through a CRT, you irrevocably transfer assets into a trust created by you and governed by a trust agreement. You and/or other beneficiaries receive payments from the trust for a period of time and the remainder of it passes to WPC and/or other named charities upon your death or at the termination of the trust. In addition, you receive a charitable deduction for the gift value in the year that you make your gift.

Two common variations of charitable remainder trusts include annuity trusts (CRATS) and unitrusts (CRUTS).

Similar to a charitable gift annuity (CGA), [hyperlink to CGA page] a charitable remainder annuity trust (CRAT) pays a fixed rate of income for life. It differs from a CGA in that it is set up with an outside trust and can have more than one charitable beneficiary.

A charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT) offers variable payout rates based on the current market value of the assets and may help create a hedge against inflation over the long- term. Like the CRAT, a CRUT must be set up with an outside trust.

For more information, call the Development department at 412-586-2336 or e-mail us at development@paconserve.org.