To leave money to a charity in your will, add a bequest that names the organization by its full legal name, address, and Employer Identification Number, and state clearly what the charity is to receive: a fixed dollar amount, a percentage of your estate, the residue after other gifts are paid, or a gift that takes effect only if a named person doesn’t survive you. The federal tax code treats these gifts generously. Charitable bequests are deducted from your taxable estate at full value with no upper limit, which can reduce or eliminate estate tax for your heirs.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 2055 – Transfers for Public, Charitable, and Religious Uses The mechanics are simple. Small drafting mistakes aren’t.
Pick the Shape of the Gift
Four structures cover almost every charitable bequest, and the choice turns on whether you want a fixed gift or one that moves with your estate’s final value.
A specific bequest leaves a fixed dollar amount or a particular asset: “I give $25,000 to Charity XYZ,” or “I give my 100 shares of Company ABC stock to Charity XYZ.” The charity knows exactly what’s coming, and the amount doesn’t flex if your estate grows or shrinks.2Legal Information Institute. Specific Bequest That rigidity cuts both ways. A $50,000 gift written twenty years ago can swallow a much larger share of a smaller estate than you ever intended, and the executor has no authority to adjust it.
A percentage bequest leaves a set share of your estate: “I give 10% of my estate to Charity XYZ.” The gift scales with the estate automatically, which is why percentage and residuary bequests tend to cause fewer problems during administration.
A residuary bequest sends the charity whatever is left after debts, expenses, and other named gifts are paid. It’s the natural choice when you want to take care of specific people first and send the remainder to a cause you support.3Legal Information Institute. Residuary Bequest
A contingent bequest takes effect only if a condition occurs, most often as a fallback: “If my nephew does not survive me, I give my entire estate to Charity XYZ.” If the condition never triggers, the charity receives nothing.4Legal Information Institute. Contingent Will
Name the Charity So It Actually Receives the Gift
The single biggest drafting mistake in charitable bequests is getting the organization’s name wrong. Many charities operate under a public name that differs from their legal name, and dozens of groups work under nearly identical names. Three details, together, eliminate ambiguity: the full legal name, the main address, and the Employer Identification Number.5Internal Revenue Service. Employer Identification Numbers for Tax-Exempt Organizations
You can usually find the legal name and EIN on the charity’s website, annual report, or tax receipts. As a cross-check, the IRS runs a free Tax Exempt Organization Search tool that verifies legal name, EIN, and current tax-exempt status.6Internal Revenue Service. Tax Exempt Organization Search Running the search also confirms the charity is the kind of organization that qualifies for the estate tax deduction.
Decide Whether to Restrict How the Money Is Used
An unrestricted gift lets the charity spend the money wherever the need is greatest. The language is a single phrase: the gift is for the organization’s “general purposes.” It’s the easiest approach and gives the charity maximum flexibility.
A restricted gift directs the money to a particular program, like a scholarship fund or a literacy initiative, and the drafting has to be precise: “I give $50,000 to [Charity’s Full Legal Name] to be used exclusively for its youth literacy program.” Talk to the charity before you finalize the language. Programs get renamed, merged, or discontinued, and a restriction that can’t be honored decades later may send your executor to court to get the gift redirected, adding cost and delay.
A middle path is to write in a fallback: direct the gift to the specific program, but add that if the program no longer exists, the charity may apply the funds to its closest equivalent purpose. That gives everyone a path forward without a judge’s involvement.
Non-Cash Gifts and What They Add
You aren’t limited to cash. Real estate, stocks, artwork, and other property can all pass to a charity through your will. Each one brings paperwork that cash doesn’t.
When your estate claims a charitable deduction for donated property worth more than $5,000, the IRS generally requires a qualified appraisal by an independent appraiser who meets IRS standards, completed within set timeframes. Property valued above $500 requires the executor to file IRS Form 8283 with the estate tax return, and for artwork appraised at $20,000 or more a complete signed appraisal must accompany the return.
Real estate with an outstanding mortgage creates its own problem. The charity inherits the debt along with the property, and many charities won’t accept encumbered real estate. Pay down the lien before your death, or confirm in advance that the charity will take the property as it is. Otherwise, the gift can be declined and the property falls back into your general estate. Publicly traded stock is usually the easiest non-cash asset to leave because it has a clear market value and the charity can liquidate it quickly. Closely held business interests and collectibles are the hardest, and both your attorney and the charity should be in the conversation early.
What the Tax Deduction Actually Does
Charitable bequests reduce your taxable estate dollar for dollar with no upper limit. Your estate deducts the full value of every qualifying charitable gift from the gross estate when calculating federal estate tax.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 2055 – Transfers for Public, Charitable, and Religious Uses Unlike the income tax charitable deduction, which has percentage-of-income caps, the estate tax version is uncapped.
For 2026, the federal estate tax exemption is $15,000,000 per person.7Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Procedure 2025-32 Estates below that threshold owe no federal estate tax whether they give to charity or not. Estates above it face a top rate of 40% on the excess, and a large charitable bequest can wipe out that bill. Some states impose their own estate or inheritance taxes at much lower thresholds, so the deduction can still matter well below the federal line.
Your executor reports the gifts on Schedule O of IRS Form 706, the federal estate tax return.8Internal Revenue Service. About Form 706, United States Estate and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Return The deduction applies to gifts to qualifying recipients, including organizations formed for religious, educational, scientific, or literary purposes, as well as government entities and certain veterans’ organizations.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 2055 – Transfers for Public, Charitable, and Religious Uses
Adding the Gift to a Will You Already Have
You don’t need to rewrite the whole document. A codicil is a short legal supplement that modifies an existing will without replacing it, and it’s the standard tool for adding a new beneficiary, changing a dollar amount, or removing a gift.
The codicil has to meet the same formalities as the original will. Sign it in front of at least two witnesses, add a notary if your state requires one, and be at least 18 and of sound mind. The document should reference the date of the original will and describe the change clearly.
Codicils work for one or two changes. Stack several on top of each other and they start to contradict, which makes probate harder. Once you’re past a second or third, draft a new will from scratch.
If the Charity No Longer Exists
Charities merge, rebrand, and dissolve. If the organization you named is gone by the time you die, the bequest doesn’t automatically fail. Courts apply a doctrine called cy pres, meaning “as close as possible,” and redirect the gift to a similar organization that matches your original intent.9Legal Information Institute. Cy Pres Doctrine If a local animal shelter merged into a regional humane society, the funds typically follow to the successor. If the shelter simply closed, a court looks for a similar animal welfare charity nearby. The process works, but it costs time and legal fees. You can avoid it by reviewing the will every few years, or by naming a backup charity in the gift itself.
Alternatives That Skip the Will
A will isn’t the only route. Two alternatives are worth knowing before you finalize anything.
Beneficiary Designations
You can name a charity directly as the beneficiary on a life insurance policy, IRA, 401(k), brokerage account, or bank account with a payable-on-death designation. Request a beneficiary form from the institution and fill it in. Assets passed this way skip probate entirely and reach the charity faster. One point catches people out: a beneficiary designation overrides your will. If your will leaves your IRA to your nephew but the account’s beneficiary form names a charity, the charity gets the IRA, and your executor can’t change it. Keep designations and will aligned, and review both whenever your plans shift.
Qualified Charitable Distributions
If you’re 70½ or older, you can give directly from a traditional IRA during your lifetime through a qualified charitable distribution. In 2026, you can direct up to $111,000 per year from the IRA to a qualifying charity without the distribution counting as taxable income.10Internal Revenue Service. Seniors Can Reduce Their Tax Burden by Donating to Charity Through Their IRA The funds have to move directly from the IRA custodian to the charity. Withdrawing first and writing a check doesn’t qualify.
Leaving a traditional IRA to charity at death is especially efficient. An individual heir pays income tax on the distributions; a charity, because of its tax-exempt status, does not. The full account value goes to work rather than being eroded by income tax on the way through.
For larger estates with more complex goals, charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts, and donor-advised funds can combine family support with charitable giving in ways a simple bequest can’t. Those tools belong in a conversation with an estate planning attorney who knows your full picture.