Working on a 1041, decedents Will directed a Cash Bequeath to a local Church. Is a cash bequeath to a Church deductible on 1041?

[RMClark55]

I'm preparing an Estates 1041 that has about $30 K of income.  The decedents Will left a cash bequeath to be paid from the Estates assets to  a  Church.  Can the bequeath be considered a charitable deduction on Form 1041?

[tagteam]

---

@RMClark55 wrote:
........Can the bequeath be considered a charitable deduction on Form 1041?

---

See https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1041#en_US_2023_publink1000286181

[RMClark55]

Thanks for your reply.  What is confusing me is information I was given by someone that said the charitable contribution that was included in the Will is only deductible on Form 1041 "if the contribution is be made from trust income, not principal".  There is very little "income generated by the estate" but but enough to file 1041.  Is the trust principal the cash in the trust that was transferred from the decedents checking/savings accounts" If so it appears the contribution made via the Will may not be deductible on the 1041?  It's a bit confusing.  Thanks for any additional information  you might have.

[tagteam]

OK, really simple: In order to be deductible on a 1041, the donation needs to be made from gross income.

The gross estate is reduced by a charitable bequest and that would be reported on a 706 (if that form needs to be filed, which is typically only for large estates).

[RMClark55]

I really appreciate your response and trying to make it simple.  To really dumb it down for me let me give the particulars.  Estate has $350,000 in cash that is made up of the descendants checking and savings accounts plus $32,000 Income from Dividends, interest and a 1099-R.  The Will gave a cash Bequeath  of $75,000 to a local Church.  Is the 75K an allowable Deduction on 1041? I don’t know how to determine if the donation came from the Income or not.  Hope that made sense. 

[tagteam]

If that was set aside in the Will, then it is probably not from income (unfortunately).

[RMClark55]

Thank you.  It was left to the Church in the Will but was not specified the donation was to come from Income earned by the Estate.   I was hoping I could just "assume" part of the donation came from the Income generated by the state and the rest from the Will's cash assets but I don't think it's worth the risk given the Tax burden isn't significant.