Careful when transferring by Will to a Caregiver

A gift to a caregiver could run into trouble if the person is deemed a disqualified person under California Probate Code Section 21350. If the testator is a dependent adult and he or she gives the assets to a care custodian, then it is important that the attorney drafting the will or other instrument have an independent review of the proposed transfer. The purpose is to protect against elder abuse. This law applies to persons making donative transfers who are 64 or over. In a probate setting, this could become a contested gift depending on the size of the asset and how dependent the testator is, or better yet, how close the caregiver and the testator have become. BTW, there are exceptions. For example, if the asset is less than $3000, or there is a blood relation of a certain degree between the testator and the caregiver, the donative transfer does not fall under 21350.