photo peter davison

SOLEMN MOMENT — Bishop John Privett presiding at the requiem Eucharist for the Reverend Ken Bond.

The Reverend Ken Bond died December 10 in Salmon Arm at the age of 84. Raised in Godalming, Surrey (UK), he began his adult life as a radio operator for the Royal Navy, seeing service in Belgium, France and Germany. In 1949 he married Joan Deyell, a Canadian he had met in 1946 through their mutual wartime service, and in 1965 they moved to BC. Ken worked as a journalist in Vancouver, Quesnel and Prince George before moving to Enderby, and employment with the Vernon Daily News. In 1982 he responded to a vocation to the priesthood, and was ordained priest in 1987. He served various parishes in the Kootenays, then became Priest-in-Charge of the Enderby-Armstrong parish, followed by interim ministries in Revelstoke and Salmon Arm. Joan died in 1998. Ken is survived by his son David (Susan), and his daughter Ann, granddaughter Samantha, and grandsons Richard, Kyle and Austin, as well as relatives in the UK, and close friend Yvonne Hickman of Deep Creek.

A requiem Eucharist was celebrated at St. John's, Salmon Arm by Bishop John Privett, with the Reverend Brian Smith. Family members read the lessons, and friend and travelling companion Archdeacon Don Wootten led the Prayers of the People. Tributes from his family and others stressed, not only his effective, compassionate and down-to-earth ministry, but also the critically supportive role he played for his family as role model, mentor and best friend, and his ongoing mentoring of journalist colleagues. His love of Glen Miller Big Band music also found a place in the service. May he rest in peace.

Gift of Residual Interest

Living in your principal residence or enjoying property such as a cottage can be all the more satisfying if you know that, when you no longer need it, it will become your gift to the Anglican Church for its mission and ministry.

Residual Interest
It's like having your cake and eating it, too! You have the satisfaction of making a major gift to the Anglican Church now and receiving an immediate tax benefit, yet you continue to use and enjoy the gift property for the rest of your life!

It's known as a gift of residual interest with retained life use, and it usually involves your principal residence or other property, such as a cottage. In making such a gift, you transfer the property irrevocably to the Anglican Church but retain its lifetime use.

When the transfer is made, you will receive a donation receipt for the present value of the "residual interest," the value, in today's dollars, of the property the Church will receive at your death. This is calculated on the basis of the property's appraised value, your age, and an appropriate discount rate.

Giving Your Principal Residence
Jean, age 72, lives in Castlegar. She owns a home valued at $200,000. She wants to continue living in it for many years to come, but she would like the diocese to have it at the end of her life and put the money from its sale in the Kootenay Forward Fund. She decides to give the home to the diocese now, retaining a life interest for herself. She receives a donation receipt for $85,421 which, assuming a 48 percent combined tax credit, will reduce her income taxes by $41,002 over the next five years. (The portion of the donation receipt that she may claim in any given year is limited to 75 percent of her income, but she has the gift year and five additional years to use the full amount.) Because Jean's house is her principal residence, she realizes no taxable gain at the time of the transfer, no matter how much its value has increased since she acquired it. During her continued occupancy, she will be responsible for maintenance and such other expenses as are specified in her gift agreement with the diocese. If it becomes necessary for her to give up the house sometime before her death, she has several options. She may rent the house and retain the rental income, give her life interest to the diocese and receive an additional donation receipt, or, by agreement with the diocese, sell the house and receive a share of the proceeds based on the value of her life interest.

Giving Other Types of Real Estate It's easy to see how a residual interest in a personal residence can be an appropriate gift, but in fact, other property you own and use may also be a likely candidate. In this case, you will be taxed on 50 percent of the capital gain attributable to the residual interest, but the tax savings from the donation receipt will more than offset the tax on the gain.

Simon, age 73, has a cottage a few hours from his home in Penticton. He bought the cottage a number of years ago for $40,000, and it is now worth $100,000. He's reluctant to sell it, both because he still uses it frequently and because the sale would result in a taxable gain of $30,000 (50 percent of $60,000). For many years he has considered starting an endowment fund to aid small rural parishes in the diocese. He decides the seed money for this fund could come from the cottage. He could continue to enjoy the property now and avoid the large capital gain. By transferring it to the diocese with a retained life interest, only 50 percent of the gain attributable to the residual interest will be taxed. In Simon's case, the $53,608 donation receipt he receives for the overall value of the residual interest will more than offset the taxable gain of $16,082.

When you give property that has appreciated in value, the amount of the donation receipt creditable in any one year is 100 percent of the taxable gain in the gift, plus 75 percent of your other income. This assures that you will always realize net tax savings, no matter how much the property has appreciated.

"The call to stewardship and the call to mission is part of one pilgrimage."

For more information please contact: Archdeacon David Irving
Tel: 250 762 3306 Email:archdcnkootenay@telus.net