[WSBAPT] charitable bequest question

[Candace Wilkerson]

Hi Sara,

I haven't had experience with this specific situation, but looking at it from a contract perspective:

Is the entity only establishing the fund/scholarship if the client donates the anticipated minimum amount to the fund?  Does it say this in the agreement?  And what is the entity offering as consideration to the client for being put on the hook in this way?

It seems to me that "contracting" for a donation is a little strange.  I wouldn't advise a client to sign such an agreement, or if I did, it should have some language in there allowing the client to back out of the donation under specific circumstances.

Candace Wilkerson

From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> On Behalf Of Sara D. Longley
Sent: Monday, July 22, 2019 4:13 PM
To: 'WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv' <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: Re: [WSBAPT] charitable bequest question

Re-submitting this question in hopes of getting some feedback.  Thanks in advance!

Hello listmates,

I have a question about making and then revoking charitable bequests, in the context of an institutional recipient who is aware of the bequest and takes action based on the expectation.

My client is considering signing an agreement with a charitable entity that commits the entity to establish a named fund and an eventual scholarship if and when it receives a certain level of donations to the fund.  The agreement includes language that states the entity anticipates receiving a "minimum" amount as a bequest from my client.  My question is, what happens if, say, 10 years from now my client changes his will and deletes or greatly reduces that bequest?  Will the entity be able to sue his estate on the basis of the signed agreement?

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.

Sara Longley

[cid:image001.jpg at 01D1F8A6.19C81E60]
Sara D. Longley, J.D., LL.M.

LONGLEY LAW PLLC
1734 NW Market Street
Seattle, WA 98107
(206) 434-5644<tel:%28206%29%20434-5644>
Sara at Longley-law.pro<mailto:Sara at longley-law.pro>
www.longley-law.pro<http://www.longley-law.pro/>

ATTENTION CLIENTS: I am in the process of merging my law firm into Ivy Law Group, PLLC.  Over the next few months my web site will redirect to www.ivylawgroup.com<http://www.ivylawgroup.com> and I will begin emailing from Sara at ivylawgroup.com<mailto:Sara at ivylawgroup.com>.  My existing email address and telephone number will continue to function and my physical office location will not change.  I look forward to serving you in the coming years.

This email is intended only for the individual to whom it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential, and/or exempt from disclosure.  If you have received this message in error, please inform the sender by telephone or reply email and delete this message and all attachments.  Thank you.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20190723/6809c91d/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 530 bytes
Desc: image002.jpg
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20190723/6809c91d/image002.jpg>