Nonprofit & Charitable Advisory Services
McGuireWoods’ nonprofit and charitable advisory services team counsels clients engaged in philanthropy through tax and other rules for planned gifts, including gifts of complex assets such as closely held businesses, real estate, intellectual property, art and other collectibles.
The team’s work includes the planning, implementation and administration of outright gifts as well as planned gifts. Techniques within the team’s experience include charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts, charitable gift annuities, pooled income funds, bargain sales, gifts of remainder interests in a personal residence or farm, and restricted and endowment gifts. Our estate planning knowledge and experience with the federal transfer tax laws enables us to coordinate a donor’s charitable giving with the donor’s estate planning to achieve the donor’s overall goals and objectives. Our lawyers advise on the income tax requirements for the charitable deduction, including the substantiation requirements, but also the estate and gift tax rules applicable to charitable and split-interest gifts.
The team also advises clients regularly on the selection of an appropriate gift vehicle for conducting targeted philanthropy or to address client goals and objectives related to unique or complex assets held by the client. Typical choices involve a private foundation, private operating foundation, supporting organization or donor advised fund. The team assists with the establishment of the appropriate gift vehicle and with its administration and ongoing compliance with applicable tax laws. Families and individual donors rely upon the team’s acumen in connection with the tax rules that apply to private foundations, supporting organizations and donor-advised funds. McGuireWoods ensures that private foundation clients have the resources to navigate the private foundation tax rules, including the self-dealing, taxable expenditures, excess business holdings, minimum distributions, and jeopardy investment rules as well as the tax on net investment income.
As part of McGuireWoods’ private wealth services practice, the nonprofit and charitable advisory team advises high-net-worth individuals and families to assist them in achieving their philanthropic and charitable objectives through the use of charitable and planned giving vehicles, private foundations, supporting organizations, and donor advised funds. We also advise fiduciaries, including corporate trustees, on issues connected to the management and administration of charitable trusts.
Consistently ranked nationally and in Virginia, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C., in private wealth law.
– Chambers USA High Net Worth Guide
