Gifts After Incapacity: It Takes Advance Planning

You have a long pattern of making gifts — to your children, to other family members, and to charities. Do you want to continue to make those gifts after incapacity? You need to make your intentions clear now, while you are still able to express those wishes. Perhaps you are managing someone else’s affairs. Maybe you are acting as trustee, court-appointed conservator, or agent under a power of attorney. Can you make (or continue) gifts from their assets despite their current limitations? The rules are murky, and they depend on your state law and the documents appointing you as fiduciary. Generally speaking, you need to be very cautious about making even small gifts after incapacity of the principal. There are plenty of people eager to challenge your authority. In this podcast episode, we review some of the principles and make some suggestions. One key suggestion: if you want gifts to continue after your own incapacity, you need to make that clear and leave good instructions.