Gifts During Your Lifetime

Giving a gift during your lifetime can decrease the amount of your assets that make up the value of your estate upon death, thereby reducing the amount of probate fees payable by your estate.

Probate fees are a tax payable to the Provincial Government, determined as a percentage of your estate's will. Fees vary by province but current probate fees in British Columbia are:

• No fee for estates under $25,000.
• Estates over $25,000 but less than $50,000 are charged a fee of $208 plus $6 per thousand (or part of a thousand).
• Estates over $50,000 are charged a fee of $208, plus $150, plus $14 per thousand (or part of a thousand on the amount over $50,000).

An estate's value is the sum of assets that pass through the hands of an executor or an estate administrator, with such assets to be distributed to beneficiaries of the estate. Depending on the size of an estate, probate fees can be costly. If it is your ultimate goal to give a percentage of your assets to Mercy Ships, you may want to give your gift during your lifetime. Other than reducing probate fees, such a gift can benefit you by:

• Reducing solicitor's fees for legal services associated with the administration of an estate (usually charged on an hourly basis for time spent on a file).
• Reducing executor's fees, which may equal 5% of the value of the estate (or more, if you have designated a professional executor, such as a trust company).
• Protecting your gift from a challenge by a spouse or child under the Wills Variation Act , RSBC 1996 c. 490, which gives the courts broad discretion to vary a testator's will.
• Protecting your gift from creditors.

Types of Gifts

There are many creative ways to gift Mercy Ships Canada during your lifetime and receive immediate tax benefits. The following give a few options; however, an estate planner can provide you with other ideas and a plan that will best serve your individual estate planning needs. Please contact a lawyer, financial planner or accountant for advice regarding the full implications of donating each type of gift to Mercy Ships.

• Securities (stocks and mutual funds) -- you can transfer securities directly to Mercy Ships Canada
• Life Insurance -- you can name Mercy Ships Canada Society as a full or partial beneficiary of an existing life insurance policy; or take out a new policy, naming Mercy Ships Canada Society as the beneficiary. You can also name Mercy Ships Canada Society as the beneficiary of a joint policy covering you and your spouse, in which case Mercy Ships Canada will receive the proceeds of the joint policy only after both you and your spouse have passed away.
• Retirement Funds (RRSPs or RRIFs) -- you can name Mercy Ships Canada Society as beneficiary of your retirement funds.
• Real Estate -- You can transfer commercial, residential or vacation property to Mercy Ships.
• Cash or Gifts-in-Kind -- You can donate cash or gifts-in-kind directly to Mercy Ships Canada, for which you receive an appropriate charitable tax receipt.