PLANNED GIVING
Alaska has a way of getting under your skin. Wild and unforgiving, yet fruitful and giving from its land and waters, Alaska is home to some of the most unique communities on earth. If you are like many thousands of Alaskans who share memories of this common place and want to maintain it is a place where future generations can have access to fresh, locally grown foods, then you can help us protect the unique agricultural heritage of our great state.
As you think about your connection to the land here in Alaska, and consider your future, perhaps you might be thinking about how you can make a big difference by conserving one of Alaska’s most precious resources- its agricultural land.
Planned gifts come in a variety of different forms, but their impact is profound. These lasting gifts, carefully thought and planned out, can make a critical difference in protecting the agricultural lands we hold dear in our state. These gifts could include bequests made in a will, naming Alaska Farmland Trust as a life insurance beneficiary, or giving tax-wise charitable gift annuities or remainder trusts.
Your gift will have lasting, long term impacts on our agricultural community here in Alaska. Legacy gifts will allow us to became a secure, established land trust that will have the ability to look after our conservation easements far into the future. Proceed from planned gifts will go both to our endowment and for acquisition of new conservation easements on agricultural lands.
Planned Gift Options You Can Consider
Bequests
Bequests are an easy, convenient way for you to make a planned gift to the Alaska Farmland Trust. Written into your will or living trust as a provision, bequests direct money or other real property to an organization or individuals at the time of your death. Bequests also are versatile in that you can change your mind at any time. Deductible from you taxable estate, bequests may result in tax savings.
When drafting your bequest, you can also specific if your donation should go towards annual support of the Alaska Farmland Trust or go towards a specific programatic goal, or place a conservation easement on your land after death.
Donating a Remainder Interest in Land
You also have the option of donating a Remainder Interest in Land. This is a fancy way of saying that your donate your property, but you are allowed to use and enjoy your property for the remainder of your lifetime. The benefits to you is that you will see immediate income tax benefits, while achieving the goals of giving the land over to the Alaska Farmland Trust upon your death.
At that time, assuming there are conservation values on the value (which we would determine prior to the donation), we will place a conservation easement on the property, then sell it or list it on the Alaska FarmLink program. Thereby fulfilling our goals of keeping ag land in production, protecting critical agricultural lands, and passing it on to future generations, as well as proving us with long-term support of the sale of the property.
Charitable Remainder Trust
Like Charitable Gift Annuities, Charitable Remainder Trusts are a form of “life income gift.” This form of planned giving provide you with an immediate income tax deduction and provides you with an increased annual income. What may seem like a complex mechanism, a Charitable Remainder Trust works much like a Charitable Gift Annuities, except that your gift is held and managed by the trustee of your choice.
With this mechanism, you would please your cash or appreciated property into an independent trust and choose to direct your income interest to one or more beneficiaries, such as the Alaska Farmland Trust. Your trustee manages this trust.
Charitable Lead Trust
This style of planned giving is appropriate for someone with a large taxable estate. If you wish to pass on a greater inheritance to your children WHILE proving Alaska Farmland Trust with immediate and sustained support, this may be the best option for you. Generally, a charitable lead trust pays a specified income to VLT for either a fixed term of years or over your lifetime. When you die, your heirs receive the balance of the trust.
Charitable gift annuities
Categorized as “Life Income Gifts,” Charitable Gift Annuities provide an immediate income tax deduction, as well as regular income payments for life. Typically, this is funded using an appreciated asset that earns a very low rate of return, or an asset, like land that actually costs you to maintain. Gift annuities have the benefit of providing Alaska Farmland Trust long term financial support. A gift annuity typically works in the following way: you transfer your asset to Alaska Farmland Trust, at that time we will enter into a contract with you to pay you a fixed annuity for the rest of your life.
This website is intended to be an educational guide only and should not be seen as legal, accounting or any other professional advice. Please consult with the professionals in the instance that you would like to make a bequest to the Alaska Farmland Trust.
The Alaska Farmland Trust envisions a future with thriving local food markets that will give Alaskans access to fresh, healthy food, and keep our farmers farming.