Good morning everyone-

I'm in the process of going through NH's museum abandoned art legal process, but there's nothing in the law that deals with this situation:

Several years ago, we were given 20-30 paintings, drawings and prints by a gentleman whose primary motivation was a tax break (he was not otherwise an art collector; there was a time where a small group of donors collaborated with each other on buying art in order to get tax breaks by offering it to us and he was one of them. We're very glad they've stopped as the whole thing was questionable and awkward.) At any rate, I have plenty of correspondence to and from him discussing the potential gift, which our collection committee had voted on and had accepted almost all of. He left the works with us, but was waiting to actually sign the Gift Deed until he sold a particular parcel of real estate. Subsequent attempts on our part to contact him as time went by had no result, and in our most recent attempt we discovered that he had passed away. He was unmarried with no children, and his only sibling and both parents are also now gone. He never did actually sign a Gift Deed.

So my question is: since we have proof of gift intent, can we go ahead and accession the works? With no signed deed, how do we prove/have paperwork for ownership? Or do I need to attempt to find out if he had a designated heir and start the whole process over again?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Astrida
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Astrida Schaeffer, Exhibitions and Collections Manager
Museum of Art, University of New Hampshire
Paul Creative Arts Center
30 Academic Way
Durham, NH 03824-3538
603-862-0310
FAX: 603-862-2191
www.unh.edu/moa<http://www.unh.edu/moa>
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