Q: Can I 'give' a Living Trust's assets to a Scholarship Endowment as a Deferred Gift (payable on my death)?

A: You can do whatever you want with your assets! But it sounds like you are keeping "your" assets in your parents' trust. That is not a good idea for three reasons: (1) Trusts pay higher taxes, so you could save money by having the successor trustee of your parents' trust distribute the assets to the beneficiaries named in your parents' trust. You may not automatically get all of your parents' assets simply because your siblings have passed away. It's quite possible the trust says, if one of your siblings passes away, their share of your parents' estate goes to their children. That is a VERY COMMON provision in trusts, although not all trusts say that. Your parents' trust must be followed. No one other than your parents get to decide what happens to your parents' assets. So, the trust's terms control. (2) If you have been using the assets in your parents' trust as if they were your own and filing an individual tax returns despite the fact the assets are still in someone else's trust, then you need to see a CPA right away. You'll likely have to re-file tax returns for every year you've been doing that. (3) Most importantly, assets in a parents' trust belong to the parents' trust; the assets do NOT belong to you. This is a common mistake. People sometimes think that, just because they are supposed to inherit the assets in a trust at some point, the people "automatically" own the assets WHILE STILL IN THEIR PARENTS' TRUST. That is not accurate. Here's the rule: A beneficiary does not own or control any assets until the assets have been distributed to the beneficiary. In other words, until the assets are taken out of the parents' trust and given to a beneficiary, the beneficiary does NOT own the assets. It sounds like you have got a lot of clean up to do and, depending on the terms of your parents' trust, you may owe your nieces and nephews some money. Finally, to answer your question, you may use "payable on death" (POD) designations on your bank accounts, but it is common for PODs to be challenged because the designation of a beneficiary is not done under penalty of perjury with a notary stamp and its possible typos can happen. Also, you should know that POD designations are not infallible. I personally had a situation where my beneficiaries were deleted when my financial institution upgraded its software system and not all the data from the old system made it into the new system. So, when I checked my beneficiaries associated with that account, the official system said "no beneficiaries named" even though I had received bank statements with the beneficiary's name on them every month for YEARS, so I could even prove that I named certain people. But, if I had died before I discovered that error, that account would have had to go through probate and it could have been up for grabs. So, without a trust or will, there is no guarantee that PODs will work. But if we assume that the POD is not challenged or the beneficiaries deleted in a software upgrade, then the beneficiary should get your account.

A: Yes, it is possible to designate a scholarship endowment as a beneficiary of your living trust's assets payable on your death. This would be considered a deferred gift, and it can be a good way to support a cause that is important to you while also providing for your heirs.

To make this designation, you will need to update your living trust document and specify the scholarship endowment as a beneficiary. You should work with an attorney who specializes in estate planning to ensure that the language in your trust document is clear and legally enforceable.

It's also important to communicate your wishes to your family members and the trustee of your living trust so that they understand your intentions and are able to carry them out properly. Make sure to keep your living trust document up to date as your circumstances change, and review it periodically with your attorney to ensure that it continues to reflect your wishes and goals.

By making a deferred gift to a scholarship endowment, you can create a lasting legacy that supports education and helps future generations achieve their goals.