Legacy gifts include trusts, annuities, gifts of life insurance and bequests in which St. Michael’s College School acts as the beneficiary. A legacy gift often helps a donor to make a gift that has significant tax advantages and allows the donor to make a gift at a higher level than what might have been considered possible.
Legacy gifts can provide immediate funds for the school or can provide a gift at the time of the donor’s or the donor’s beneficiary’s death.
The mission of Legacy Giving is to ensure that the St. Michael’s tradition continues to prosper. By making a legacy gift, you will help ensure the long-term growth of St. Michael’s, and the strength of Catholic education in Canada.
Gifts-in-Kind
Gift-in-kind refers to a gift of property other than cash, and includes capital property, depreciable property, personal-use property, a leasehold interest, a residual interest, a right of any kind, a license, a share, a chose in action, and inventory of a business. It does not include gift of services.
Acceptance of some gifts-in-kind are subject to special considerations and are specifically referred to within the St. Michael’s College School Gifting Policy, including life insurance policies, publicly listed securities, private securities and other business interests, real estate, etc. The acceptance of other in-kind gifts, including gifts of books, artwork or art collections, equipment, software, or other property, are covered in the Policy.
Life Insurance
Gifts of life insurance may be contributed to SMCS in the following ways:
i) Irrevocably assign the ownership and beneficiary rights of a paid-up life insurance policy to SMCS.
ii) Irrevocably assign the ownership and beneficiary rights of a life insurance policy to SMCS, on which premiums remain to be paid;
iii) Naming SMCS as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy.
Charitable Remainder Trusts
Generally, a charitable remainder trust involves a donor transferring property (e.g., real estate, securities, or cash, etc.) to a trust for a trustee to manage the property. The donor or a beneficiary (usually a family member of the donor) retains a life or income interest in the trust but an irrevocable gift of the residual interest in the trust is made to the school. The school would receive the trust property when the trust is collapsed at the end of the interest of the beneficiary. St. Michael’s can issue a charitable donation receipt for the present value of the school’s remainder interest in the property.
Charitable Gift Annuities
It is SMCS’ policy not to accept gifts of charitable gift annuity.
Bequests
A bequest is a provision in a will, directing a gift of property from an estate to be paid to SMCS. There are several types of bequests accepted by SMCS:
- A specific bequest – A gift of a specific sum of money or a specific property, such as real estate or securities.
- A residual bequest – A gift of all or a percentage of the residue of the estate after having paid gifts to other beneficiaries under the estate.
- A contingency bequest – A gift of all or a share of the estate in the event of the prior death of certain other beneficiaries or in the event of certain conditions having been met.
- A residual bequest subject to life interest – A gift of property following the death of certain other beneficiaries who have use of the property in the estate during their lifetime.
Endowments
(a) Perpetual Endowment Funds
One of the restrictions that may be imposed by a donor is to establish a perpetual endowment fund, i.e., by requiring the capital of the fund donated to SMCS be held in perpetuity, with the income to be used at the discretion of SMCS’s board of directors or for a specific purpose designated by the donor, if any. SMCS will not be permitted to disburse the corpus of the endowment fund in perpetuity. Should SMCS be wound up, the perpetual endowment fund would need to be transferred to another Canadian registered charity, which would be required to continue holding the perpetual endowment fund in perpetuity and applying the income from the perpetual endowment fund in accordance with the restrictions imposed by the donor when the fund was first established.
SMCS does not accept the establishment of a perpetual endowment fund unless the capital to be held in perpetually is at least $125,000. However, in the case of a perpetual endowment fund to establish a bursary or a scholarship, the minimum amount of the gift will be $25,000.
(b) Long Term Funds
Other than establishing a perpetual endowment fund, a donor may establish a fund with the capital to be held for a long period of time, rather than to be held in perpetuity. Such a fund may be referred to as a ‘long term fund’.
The income will be used at the discretion of SMCS’s board of directors or for a specific purpose designated by the donor, if any. SMCS will not be permitted to disburse the corpus of the long-term fund for the period designated by the donor. At the end of this period, the corpus may be disbursed in accordance with the restrictions imposed by the donor. Should SMCS be wound up before the expiry of this period, the long-term fund would need to be transferred to another Canadian registered charity, which would be required to continue holding the long-term fund until the expiry of the said period and applying the income from the long-term fund in accordance with the restrictions imposed by the donor when the fund was first established.
SMCS does not accept the establishment of a long-term fund unless the capital to be held is at least $50,000.
The Office of Advancement can provide more detailed information about how a legacy gift can benefit a donor and the school. Please contact 416-653-4483 or advancement@smcsmail.com.
A donor may make a gift of tangible property to St. Michael’s College School. Typical gifts-in-kind include books, equipment, furnishings, or works of art. Another gift-in-kind is the donation of expenses incurred when hosting an event for St. Michael’s.
Under current tax laws, St. Michael’s cannot provide appraisals for gifts-in-kind. However, St. Michael’s will issue tax receipts for gifts-in-kind subject to Revenue Canada (CRA) regulations.
