Overview
Today the IRS released Rev. Proc. 2016-42, which contains a sample provision that may be included in the governing instrument of a charitable remainder annuity trust (CRAT) providing for annuity payments payable for one or more measuring lives followed by the distribution of trust assets to one or more charitable remaindermen. The IRS will treat the sample provision as a qualified contingency within the meaning of section 664(f). Consequently, the inclusion of the sample provision in the trust instrument does not cause the trust to fail to qualify as a charitable remainder trust under section 664. Any CRAT containing the sample provision will not be subject to the “probability of exhaustion” test, which is used to determine whether a CRAT complies with the regulatory requirement applicable to all contingent charitable transfers that only a negligible chance exists that the charity will receive nothing.