Residents in long term care facilities often become attached enough to facility employees that they want to leave gifts for the employees in their Wills. This can create problems as some facilities see this as a conflict of interest.
When a man who lived in a Norman, Oklahoma veterans center left six center employees gifts in his Will, he was likely attempting to thank the employees for their kindness and companionship. The employees were fired for accepting the gifts, despite the fact that the director of the veterans facility said that they could do so without repercussion. However, when a new director came in and found out about the gifts, the employees were fired.
The employees are suing for their jobs back.
The veterans center has a policy that employees cannot accept gifts from patients. The employees argue that since the gifts were by Will, the man was no longer a resident at the time that the gifts were made. Recently, the general counsel for Oklahoma’s Veterans Department testified that he could find no provision in the rules that would prevent the employees from accepting the gifts.
The Norman Transcript has the full story in “Attorney testifies handbook doesn’t prevent veterans center workers from accepting bequests.”
This is not an unusual problem at long term care facilities.
Residents often do grow close to employees and want to leave them something. The lesson to be learned is that before rewriting your Will, you should consult with the facility and an experienced estate planning attorney to see if policy allows you to leave anything to facility employees.
Please contact our office today at 239-225-7911 to schedule an appointment with Barbara M. Pizzolato if you are interested in protecting your legacy and need to create or update your estate plan. You may also wish to attend one of our free seminars.
Reference: Norman Transcript (January 10, 2015) “Attorney testifies handbook doesn’t prevent veterans center workers from accepting bequests”