I have to admit that I am a bit of a cynic when it comes to educational programs. Usually, the speakers are going over things I know already and frankly, I am part of the ADD generation with about a 3 second attention span. So, when I got ready to attend the NYC bar’s 3hr...
Happy thanksgiving from Andrew Cuomo, NY Attorney General, that is. I’ve been home with some sort of flu for two days and I wanted to wish everyone a happy thanksgiving. I couldn’t resist sharing the following ethical quandary facing Cuomo – a story New Yorkers know all too well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2vlARdBGzY For years, these guys (the...
As mentioned last week (see http://theplannedgivingblog.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/planned-giving-nightmare-crt-case/ ), there was a recent court ruling out of the State of Delaware regarding a really botched charitable remainder trust situation. Rather than trying to review the entire case in one post, I plan on writing short posts related to the many ethics issues raised in the case. In...
This new legal ruling is for the die hard planned giving folk out there: http://courts.delaware.gov/opinions/%28jt5l5vngapjgmyzobwkq5ejj%29/download.aspx?ID=126540 I haven’t spent enough time on it to give readers my summary and my uptake but from my first glance, it’s a real doozy of a fact pattern. Here is a glimpse and a quote from the introduction of the...
One of the most annoying challenges you may face as a planned giving professional is an attorney or an accountant of a donor who is requesting the source in the IRS code for charitable gift annuities. What makes this such a difficult question (besides the fact that an entire industry uses these things – they...