USA – FLORIDA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jennifer Jordan McCall, Drew Reitz, Christine Tsai and Maria Williams, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
10.2 Common Charitable Structures Common charitable structures generally include: i) 501 (c)(3) public charities; and ii) private non-operating foundations that are typically designed for the pur - pose of financially supporting other public charities and are controlled by a small family or a small group of donors. 501 (c)(3) public charities can include charities which derive a significant proportion of their revenue from the general public and certain “per se” entities (such as churches, educational organisations, and hospitals) which meet specific requirements. Private non-operating foundations allow individuals more control, as they are often controlled by a sin - gle family or a small group of donors, whereas public charities typically are not. Donations to private non- operating foundations also allow individual donors to take a deduction up to a certain percentage of the individual’s adjusted gross income. The percentage depends on the asset being donated, but is gener - ally less than the percentage allowed for public chari - ties (as mentioned in 10.1 Charitable Giving ). Private charities are also subject to annual minimum distribu - tion requirements, while public charities are not. More - over, private non-operating foundations are subject to additional regulations and penalties, such as the excess business holding rule (for holding more than 20% of voting stock in a business). Public charities, while they are also subject to various rules and penal - ties, are typically not subject to such extra regulations. Private non-operating foundations are also subject to further prohibitions, greater scrutiny and strict regula - tions against self-dealing transactions and jeopardis - ing investments. These rules are often complex and fact-specific, and usually require ongoing compliance and review to ensure that the foundation does not run afoul of them, with penalties for shortcomings in com - pliance. These entities file tax returns, file reports with the State Attorney General’s office (charities bureau) and register in each state in which they solicit from potential donors. For charitable organisations soliciting in Florida, addi - tional Florida compliance is necessary. Florida recently passed Florida SB 700, which prohibits charities from soliciting or accept contributions or anything of value from certain “foreign sources of concern”. According to the statute, an attestation statement certifying that
• pregnancy poses a risk to the commissioning mother’s health; or • pregnancy poses a risk to the fetus’ health. If a will does not include provisions for any children born or adopted after the will was made, then those children should receive a share of the estate consist - ent with intestacy requirements, unless: • their omission from the will was intentional; or • the testator had other children when the will was made, left most of the estate to the other parent, and that parent outlived the testator. In Florida, a child conceived from the eggs or sperm of a deceased person may not be eligible to claim against the decedent’s estate unless the decedent’s will specifically provides for the child. In such cir - cumstance, care should be taken to explicitly include future posthumously conceived children as beneficiar - ies in wills or trusts if such children are to inherit in Florida. 9.2 Same-Sex Marriage The US and Florida recognise same-sex marriages. 9.3 Cohabitation and Unmarried Couples No response provided in this jurisdiction. Federal laws encourage charitable giving in a vari - ety of ways, including generally providing individual donors with a deduction of up to 60% of the indi - vidual’s adjusted gross income for cash contributions provided to public charities. The limit on noncash contributions, such as stocks, to a public charity is 30% of AGI. The limit on contributions of cash to a private foundation is 30% of AGI. The limit on noncash contributions to a private foundation is 20% of AGI. Individuals contributing to private foundations may generally qualify for a more restricted deduction, as private foundations are often controlled by a single family or a small group of donors. 10. Charitable Planning 10.1 Charitable Giving
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