Sometimes appreciation is shown by making gifts to the caregiver in a Will or Living Trust. It is not unusual that a person who receives good treatment by a caregiver, especially when this occurs near the end of the person’s life, wants to make a gift to a caregiver at the end of the person’s life.

Under California law, gifts to caregivers are presumed to be invalid (on the basis of fraud or undue influence) if the person receiving the care signs the document making the gift during the period in which the caregiver is working for the person or within 90 days before or after that caregiving period.

A person who wishes to make a gift to a caregiver must have those wishes written in the person’s Will or Living Trust, AND must hire a second attorney to advise and counsel the person concerning the gift. The second attorney can then prepare a Certificate of Independent Review. Having this Certificate of Independent Review takes the gift out of the presumption that the gift was obtained by fraud or undue influence on the part of the caregiver and makes it more likely that the caregiver will be able to legally receive the gift that the patient wanted to give.

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