A Charitable Remainder Trust is established for the life of the philanthropic donor (also trustor or grantor) and/or for the life of any beneficiary(-ies) and is irrevocable. While there are certain changes that may be made, once the trust is established, it cannot be revoked. If it is desired, the income period of the trust can be established for a specified period of time not to exceed twenty years. The twenty-year maximum does not apply if the trust life is based on the life expectancy of the income beneficiary(-ies).

Because the income is paid to one or more parties and, at the end of the trust's life, the principal and any undistributed interest is paid to a different party, charitable remainder trusts are called split interest trusts. The income portion of the trust may be either an annuity income or a unitrust income.

An annuity income is calculated at the time the trust is established in the trust agreement. It is a fixed amount of dollars based on the then market value of the trust. If the assets of the trust go up in value, the income portion does not change.

With a unitrust, the assets of the trust are revalued annually and the percentage rate established in the trust agreement determines the dollar amount of the unitrust interest. If the value of the principal in the unitrust declined, the value of the interest portion of the unitrust would decline as well. The unitrust interest value would increase if the value of the trust assets increased.

Charitable remainder trusts are an attractive planning tool for the disposal of highly appreciated assets. While the assets revert to the charity rather than the heirs of the estate, the use of an irrevocable life insurance trust in conjunction with a charitable remainder trust could replace the asset's value for the heirs.

Net Income Charitable Remainder Trusts
This variation of a unitrust provides that either the specified fixed percentage of the trust assets or the net income of the trust is distributed to the beneficiary, whichever is less. These types of trusts are often used to handle real estate as there is no fixed distribution requirement, giving the trustee time to arrange an orderly sale of the property. A net income charitable remainder unitrust can be an excellent way to donate appreciated property and turn it into an income stream as well as acquire tax benefits.

A donor may also add a 'makeup provision" to the trust. This allows a trust to distribute more than the fixed percentage of the assets in years where the trust's income exceeded the fixed percentage. In this manner, previous year's shortages, when the trust was not able to earn the fixed percentage payment, may be made up.

Flip Charitable Remainder Unitrusts
A flip unitrust blends two types of trusts for greater flexibility, both for the donor and the eventual remainderman. The trusts function as net income trusts until a specified event occurs. On January 1st following the specified event, the net income trust flips and becomes a standard unitrust. These types of trusts function well for liquid assets such as real estate or assets that are hard to value. Click here for more information on flip unitrusts.

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How can charitable trusts provide income to help in the fight against addiction?   

The Brighton National Addiction Foundation (BNAF) seeks your philanthropic support its fight against all forms of substance abuse.  Dedicated to the mission of Brighton Hospital, one of America’s oldest and most experienced substance abuse treatment facilities and the first to be licensed in Michigan, the Foundation offers ways for individuals, corporations and grant makers to invest in our national leadership through charitable remainder trusts.  Income from charitable trusts allows us to continue to be a leading source of hope through prevention, patient care, aftercare, education and research. By giving through a remainder trust or other charitable trust fund to the BNAF, you can play a pivotal role in the fight against chemical dependency.  There are many philanthropic opportunities available for you to be part of the solution.

It is with great pleasure that Brighton Hospital welcomes the philanthropic leadership of the Brighton National Addiction Foundation.

Board of Trustees

"Brighton Hospital has had strong relationships with families throughout the United States and Canada for many years", comments Richard Kramer, President of the BNAF.  "These relationships, built on the importance of effective 12 step recovery programs and innovative treatments of these chronic diseases, are vital to the continual success of the hospital."

Supporting the BNAF with income through charitable trusts will help us:

• Build and expand the Brighton Hospital health care facilities.  The hospital has a campus exceeding 90 acres including Lake Serenity, wooded areas, and historic structures.  Treatment facilities all need updating and restoration to keep pace with hospital innovations and expansion.

• Help patients who need added days of rehabilitation.  In the world of alcohol and substance abuse, detoxification, and rehabilitation, research has shown a clear correlation between the length of stay in a rehabilitation center and the long-term success of the patient’s recovery.  Insurance carriers, however, do not reimburse behavioral health and rehabilitation from substance abuse as generously as they cover a patient’s medical and surgical needs.  The Patient Extended Care fund provides for this gap.

• Provide continuing education opportunities for our drug and alcohol treatment staff.  Inaugurated in 2006, the Brighton Hospital Addiction Fellowship is America’s first clinically based addiction fellowship program.  It increases the quality and quantity of medical staff and supports the vision of the hospital as a national center of excellence and an innovator in alcohol and drug treatment and education.

• Help collaborate research programs with leading medical and nursing schools.  Funds are needed to sponsor research programs while they develop the resources needed to apply for extramural grants from government agencies and foundations.

• Provide scholarships for our youth drug and alcohol treatment services.  Through regional partnership, the Teen Drug Rehab Program enables more teens, ages 13-17, and their families to get the help they desperately need.  Scholarships provide assessment, intensive outpatient treatment for three months and aftercare.

• Fund and continue a variety of other programs, such as our clergy recovery series, our 30-day residential treatment series, our halfway house expansions, the restoration of our 1939 chapel, and the relocation and expansion of the gift shop and bookstore, all which keep our hospital a leader in drug and alcohol treatment, and the rehabilitation center of choice over other highly regarded chemical dependency hospitals.

Our Philanthropic partners are people like you who have enriched their own lives while supporting the needs of others by supporting charities with income through trusts.  There are a variety of ways that you can both provide for your own financial security and offer valuable income to our hospital by establishing a charitable remainder trust or other charitable trusts to the BNAF. In addition, the emotional rewards, which can only be described by those who have felt them, make supporting us a life-changing experience.

Thank you so much for your interest in the Brighton National Addiction Foundation and supporting our philanthropic mission through trust fund income.  For more information on giving through wills and bequests, real estate, retirement assets, charitable lead trusts, appreciated stock, charitable remainder trusts and life insurance, contact foundation@brightonhospital.org.  With your gifts, donations and support, we will build upon this lead for the sake of all who look to us for caring, compassion and clinical excellence in the face of addiction, a life-threatening, chronic disease.

The Brighton National Addiction Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization as classified by the Internal Revenue Service. Contributions are tax-deductible to the limits allowed by law for non-profit donations.  Organizations exempt under section 501(c)(3) are further classified as either public charities or private foundations.  The BNAF is treated as a public charity and is qualified to receive tax-deductible bequests, devises, transfers and gifts.  Brighton Hospital is located in Metro Detroit, Michigan (MI).

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