Everything you always wanted to know about charitable lead trusts but were afraid to ask.

By Kathleen Stephenson and Lisa B. Petkun

A charitable lead trust may run for a term of years or for the life or lives of specified individuals. Unlike a charitable remainder trust, the Internal Revenue Code does not impose a limit on the number of years a charitable lead trust may run. Only the settlor (in the case of a lifetime transfer), the settlor’s spouse and an individual who is a lineal ancestor or spouse of a lineal ancestor of a remainder beneficiary may be the measuring life.