If you’ve had an in-home caregiver helping you out in recent years, they may have become almost like family to you – maybe even closer than some family members. Understandably, you might want to include them as a beneficiary in your will.
You have every right to do that. It’s important, however, to protect them from accusations of undue influence or even fraud by your family and potentially even the courts. Unfortunately, too many caregivers have taken advantage of elderly and/or cognitively impaired people to get assets and even fiduciary authority over their estate that these people didn’t intend to give them.
How California law protects people from unscrupulous caregivers
California law even has what’s known as a “rebuttable presumption” around inheritances left to caregivers. That means if they are accused of illegally attempting to get an inheritance, they have the burden of proving that their inheritance is legitimate.
Specifically, the law states that a “donative transfer…is presumed to be the product of fraud or undue influence…if the instrument was executed during the period in which the care custodian provided services to the transferor, or within 90 days before or after that period.”
How to prevent conflict and uncertainty after you’re gone
There are steps you can take as you create or modify your estate plan to save both your family and caregiver from conflicts after you pass away. One important step is to talk with your family and let them know what you’re leaving your caregiver and why. If they know you made this choice yourself, there’s less chance they’ll try to contest it. It helps to remind them of how much your caregiver has done for you (and how much time and work they’ve saved your family).
Another option is to give assets to your caregiver while you’re still around, if you’re able to. You should probably note these gifts in your estate plan or elsewhere so that no one accuses your caregiver of stealing.
What you definitely should avoid is promising your caregiver something after you’re gone that isn’t provided for in your estate plan. If you don’t codify it there, any promises you make are unenforceable.
By having sound estate planning guidance, you can help ensure that your caregiver and anyone else you want to benefit from your estate will do so without unnecessary issues arising.