According to our university lawyers, a gift is complete when three
conditions have been met: 1) the object must be in the possession of the
museum; 2) the donor must have signed over the ownership of the object,
usually through a deed of gift; 3) the museum must have officially
accepted the object (at the Ackland the director countersigns the deed of
gift to indicate acceptance).

These three conditions must all be met in 1995 for a donation to be
considered a 1995 gift.  Hope this helps.  Anne Douglas.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anne Fuhrman Douglas                         email: [log in to unmask]
Registrar                                    phone: 919-966-5736
Ackland Art Museum                           fax:   919-966-1400
The University of North Carolina
Campus Box 3400
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3400
U.S.A.

On Thu, 16 Nov 1995 [log in to unmask] wrote:

> As is to be expected at this time of year, several donors are approaching our
> Museum with potential gifts, eager to see them reflected in the 1995 tax year.
> Am I correct to tell them that it is the date they sign the Deed of Gift form,
> rather than the date the object(s) in question physically arrive on the Museum
> premises, that determines the year in which the tax deduction may be taken? If
> the gifts arrive after Jan 1, 1996, may they still be '95 gifts, if the deed
> was signed over on or before Dec 31, 1995?   Thanks for your experienced
> input.   -S.
>
>    ============================================================
>    Stephen B. Ringle, Registrar             [log in to unmask]
>    University of Maine Museum of Art
>    5712 Carnegie Hall, Room 109              vox: 207-581-3257
>    Orono, Maine   04469-5712                 fax: 207-581-3083
>    ============================================================
>