charitable remainder trust

A kind of charitable trust in which someone places substantial assets into an irrevocable trust.The trust is set up so that the donor (or other beneficiaries named in the trust) receives trust income for a number of years or for life, after which the assets go to a tax-exempt charity. The IRS allows a large deduction in the year the assets are donated to the trust. The tax savings are sometimes used to buy an insurance policy on the life of the donor payable to children or grandchildren at the donor's death. This way the donor can make the gift to charity, receive income from the trust, and still make a large gift at death to family members. There are several kinds of charitable remainder trusts, including charitable remainder unitrusts and charitable remainder annuity trusts. Compare: charitable lead trust