Planned Giving News
Winter 2026
When you remember APLA Health in your will or trust, as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy or retirement plan, or as part of a gift that pays you income during your lifetime, you are ensuring that APLA Health will be here to care for everyone who turns to us for help.
Getting started is often the hardest part. We’ve teamed up with FreeWill to offer you a free, online resource to create your legal will or trust in minutes. Join the more than 400,000 people that have used FreeWill to create a legal will or revocable trust or make a tax-smart non-cash gift, and leave a legacy for your loved ones and for the entire APLA Health community.
Take the first step at aplahealth.org/planned-giving.
Previously, only about 10% of taxpayers—those who itemized their deductions—received a tax break for their donations. The new law changes that by making giving more inclusive.
The Universal Deduction: Even if you take the Standard Deduction (meaning you don’t list every expense), you can now deduct up to $1,000 (single) or $2,000 (married filing jointly). Note: this applies to cash gifts to eligible charities and generally doesn’t apply to contributions to donor-advised funds.
Why it matters: More people can now receive a tax incentive for charitable giving, even if they take the standard deduction.
If you are in a position to make a significant impact, the new law has made some of your most powerful tools permanent.
The 60% Limit is Here to Stay: You can continue to deduct cash gifts to public charities up to 60% of your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). This higher limit was originally temporary but is now a permanent fixture, allowing you to be incredibly ambitious with your philanthropy.
Estate Peace of Mind: The estate tax exemption has increased to $15 million per individual or $30 million for couples, indexed for inflation. This gives you a clear landscape to plan your family’s legacy and long-term charitable bequests.
The new legislation does introduce a few new thresholds, but with a little planning, you can navigate these easily:
The Giving Floor:
For itemizers, charitable gifts are deductible only after they exceed 0.5% of your AGI. While it’s too late to accelerate multiple years of giving into one year (including through a donor-advised fund) to avoid the new limit entirely, that strategy can be effective to clear the floor and maximize impact going forward.
New Top-Bracket Cap:
For taxpayers in the top (37%) bracket, the tax benefit of itemized deductions is capped at 35%. Appreciated assets (like stock) can still be powerful. This doesn’t bypass the 35% cap, but it may help you avoid capital gains tax on the appreciation.
Your Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is an extraordinarily tax-savvy retirement planning tool, allowing you to save pre-tax income which compounds and grows from your tax-deferred contributions until you retire. However, when money is withdrawn from your IRA, it is taxed as ordinary income. This can come as a surprise, but an IRA does not reduce taxes; it merely defers when the taxes are paid. The tax bill comes due when the money is withdrawn either by you or your heirs.
What happens if there is money left in your IRA at the end of your lifetime will depend upon how you plan now. Your estate contribution to APLA Health could save significant taxes for your children, relatives, or other heirs. Consider these two scenarios:
Scenario One: You include a generous contribution to APLA Health in your will and name family, friends, or relatives to receive the rest of your estate. Either your estate or your heirs will pay income tax when they withdraw the balance remaining in your IRA, and your contribution to APLA Health will be made from your net estate.
Scenario Two: Instead, you name APLA Health as the beneficiary of your IRA and leave your other (non-IRA) assets to your heirs.
Because APLA Health is a charity, the IRA passes to us 100% tax-free—no income tax is owed. Your heirs then receive the rest of your estate, which is not subject to income tax like an IRA would be.
Result: APLA Health receives the full value of the IRA, and your heirs receive more overall because they avoid the income tax that would otherwise be due on those retirement funds.
If you are age 70½ or older, you can even use your IRA to make tax-free contributions to APLA Health during your lifetime. You can donate up to $111,000 (for 2026) from your IRA directly to APLA. Just ask your IRA administrator to make a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD). You will owe no income tax on the QCD amount. If you have Required Minimum Distributions (RMD), your QCD contribution counts toward your RMD without creating taxable income for you. Even better, your QCD contribution will reduce the balance in your IRA which can decrease future RMDs and the income tax owed by your estate or heirs. We are happy to help you. Contact us today to learn more!
Would you like to help support APLA Health without changing your will or parting with any assets now?
You can do this by naming APLA Health as a beneficiary of certain assets or accounts you own. This “beneficiary designation” is one of the simplest ways to make a gift to us. It is literally as easy as filling out a form.
You can name APLA Health as the sole beneficiary of your assets or as one of several beneficiaries. For example, you can use some of your assets to make a legacy gift and use the rest to provide for family members or other loved ones.
There are many benefits of making a gift by beneficiary designation:
Assets to consider include:
We are very grateful for your thoughtful support for APLA Health’s future, and we would be happy to work with you to complete a beneficiary designation gift. Please contact us to learn more:
Ken Mintzer, Director of Development, 213.201.1525 or kmintzer@aplahealth.org.