Stories
Sharing the Gift of a Mother’s Love
Joanna Johnson gives back through a Charitable Remainder Trust
Joanna Johnson, a longtime Mission Viejo real estate broker, knows firsthand the lifesaving difference that Providence Mission Hospital makes in our community because our doctors saved her mother’s life.
It was Thanksgiving 2007 when she brought Florence C. Johnson to Providence Mission Hospital for emergency surgery for colon cancer. Her mother was 92 years old at the time.
Florence spent two weeks in the hospital, during which Joanna came to know our doctors and nurses well. She never forgot their kindness, or the way the hospital became her home away from home during those difficult days.
Happily, Florence recovered and went on to live 10 more years. The experience led Joanna to become a donor to Providence Mission Hospital Foundation. In a recent legacy planning newsletter, she learned about the advantages of a Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT), which can reduce tax liability while supporting a person’s preferred charity.
An individual first donates an appreciated asset, such as stock or real estate, to the trust. The trust then disburses income to beneficiaries for life or a term of years, after which the remainder is donated to a qualifying charity like Providence Mission Hospital Foundation.
A CRT is a great way for investors to shield themselves from taxes while putting their estate to work for the community. However, many are unaware of the option. Even Joanna — an experienced real estate broker — was unfamiliar with it.
The pandemic had already led Joanna to begin planning her estate, and she immediately saw the benefits of a Charitable Remainder Trust.
“I decided that the next property to be sold, I would transfer to a Charitable Remainder Trust for Providence Mission Hospital Foundation,” she says. “My donation is driven by my love for my mother and the lifesaving operation she was given at the hospital.”
Joanna contacted Jim Frey, director of estate and gift planning, who guided her through the process. Joanna’s trust was set up within weeks, and she says it couldn’t have been easier. She had several questions about how the trust would operate. Everything was explained in detail, making her decision easier.
Having lost several family members to cancer, Joanna is directing her donation to the hospital’s Leonard Cancer Institute.
“I’m happy to have my gift go to the cancer institute,” she says. “Hospitals, doctors and nurses are under siege like never before, and they need all the support they can get.”
Share