In her will, Laura left 20% of her estate to her niece, 25% to her daughter, and the remaining portion to one of her favorite charities. If the daughter received $20,000 as her share, what was the total amount of money given to charity?

Let's denote the total value of Laura's estate as "x." According to the information given, Laura left 20% of her estate to her niece and 25% to her daughter. The remaining portion, which represents the money given to charity, can be calculated by subtracting the sum of the niece's and daughter's shares from the total estate value. Let's calculate the sum of the niece's and daughter's shares:
Niece's share: 20% of x
Daughter's share: 25% of x
Total: 20% of x + 25% of x = 45% of x
We know that the daughter received $20,000 as her share, which represents 25% of the estate value:
25% of x = $20,000
To find the total value of the estate, we can solve this equation:
0.25x = $20,000
Dividing both sides of the equation by 0.25:
x = $20,000 / 0.25
x = $80,000
Now, we can calculate the amount given to charity by subtracting the sum of the niece's and daughter's shares from the total estate value:
Amount given to charity = Total estate value - (Niece's share + Daughter's share)
= $80,000 - (20% of $80,000 + 25% of $80,000)
= $80,000 - (0.2 * $80,000 + 0.25 * $80,000)
= $80,000 - ($16,000 + $20,000)
= $80,000 - $36,000
= $44,000
Therefore, the total amount of money given to charity was $44,000.