Ellen P. Stewart, Partner
Barnes Lipscomb Stewart & Ott PLLC

Sounds a bit dramatic, right? Almost all of the planned giving literature, publications, and blogs focus on “How to get and keep that big donor” or “What assets should be used and when”.

What you do not see is information designed to help planned giving departments avoid troublesome issues or when to be wary. In other words, what are the traps that can cause you a problem in the planned giving world? How do you minimize risk?
Areas of concern involve any family or business litigation (both before death and as the result of death), complicated family dynamics (think of the rogue son who is now the executor), capacity issues for the donor, complicated assets that do not translate to a planned gift easily, lack of assets, bad drafting and the most common problem area: Will and Trusts contests. All of these issues have one very common thread; very expensive legal bills. And that is something most planned giving departments cannot afford.