by Laurie Valentine, JD, Senior Counsel, Philanthropic Giving
The team at Community Foundation Tampa Bay is honored to work with attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors to help clients turn generosity into lasting impact. As you support charitable clients, you routinely incorporate philanthropic intentions into wills, trusts, and beneficiary designations. An important and sometimes overlooked step is ensuring those charitable intentions are clearly documented for times when clients may no longer be able to make decisions for themselves.
Longer lifespans, rising rates of dementia, and increasingly complex family structures mean there may be extended periods when decisions are made by agents, trustees, or caregivers rather than by clients themselves. Courts and advisors are seeing more estate and trust disputes tied to questions of capacity and undue influence, particularly when late-stage changes to an estate plan come as a surprise to heirs. Recent industry reporting also points to a growing number of challenges to last-minute trust amendments, often centered on claims of diminished capacity or third-party pressure.
In this environment, charitable goals can be especially vulnerable. Because they are values-driven rather than necessity-driven, families may focus on immediate needs and unintentionally overlook a loved one’s charitable intentions if those intentions are not clearly documented. Charitable intent can also be easier to reinterpret than other planning objectives. For example, a statement such as “she cared about education” can invite differing interpretations about what that means or how it should be carried forward. In addition, a significant charitable gift made late in life without clear context may raise concerns among disappointed beneficiaries, increasing the risk of capacity or undue influence claims.
Community Foundation Tampa Bay can help. As you develop plans for clients, our team is available to offer ways your clients may wish to document their charitable intentions, including:
- Suggested bequest language in wills or trusts for gifts to donor advised or other charitable funds held at the Community Foundation
- Alignment of charitable intentions across planning instruments, including trusts, wills, retirement and insurance beneficiary designations, and business succession plans
- A contemporaneous statement of philanthropic goals maintained with plan files, providing clarity, consistency over time, and a clear rationale for giving
Clear documentation helps protect your clients’ values and reduces the ambiguity that can lead to misunderstandings or disputes. Through legacy funds at Community Foundation Tampa Bay, clients can clearly define their charitable intentions and ensure their generosity continues as intended, even during periods of uncertainty. Our team is here to partner with you as you help clients create lasting charitable legacies rooted in clarity, care, and purpose.
Laurie Valentine, JD, Senior Counsel of Philanthropic Giving at Community Foundation Tampa Bay, has served as part of the staff since 2022. With expertise in charitable giving, estate planning, and nonprofit law, she helps professional advisors, philanthropically minded individuals, and families navigate and create impactful legacies in Tampa Bay. She can be reached by phone at (813) 692-1880 or via email at lvalentine@cftampabay.org.
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