Also take a look at Marie Malaro's Legal Primer for Managing Museum Collections (pp 204-5): "Although a formal deed of gift is usually the easiest way to document an inter vivos (during life) gift, it is by no means the only way...the mere fact that a deed of gift is not on record does not mean there was not a valid gift". janice Janice Klein Director, Mitchell Museum of the American Indian [log in to unmask] www.mitchellmuseum.org -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Sabrina Henneman Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2005 12:32 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Returning Deed of Gifts I agree. I'd think that without a deed of gift, which is really a legal document, that a donor or other family members could easily come back and say that the museum was wrong- it was a loan, not a gift, etc. and that just because we have a letter from the museum saying it's a gift doesn't prove their intent...and so forth. I guess I'll have to take a look at the RCAAM-L archive. Sabrina Henneman Registrar Genesee Country Village & Museum www.gcv.org -----Original Message----- From: Amanda Thompson [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2005 1:14 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Returning Deed of Gifts Janice: Do you know if this is true in all states? This seems extremely simplified to me. If this were true, why is there a section for museums in the Texas abandoned property code? Thanks! Amanda Dyer Curator Bell County Museum -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Janice Klein Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2005 10:27 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Returning Deed of Gifts This topic has been much discussed on the Registrars listserv (RCAAM-L). A Deed of Gift is not a legal requirement, it is "only" museum policy/procedure. For a gift to be legally valid three things need to happen: 1. an offer needs to be made 2. the offer needs to be accepted 3. the object needs to be physical transfered to you If you have all three of those things, the object is legally yours. The Deed is a Nice Thing to pull all three of these together, but it is not required. If you have a piece of paper (even a temporary receipt) that says the object was offered as a gift, a letter thanking the donor for the gift and the object itself, you have all that the law requires. Having said that, I usually don't send out the IRS 8283 Form until I have a signed Deed. But if the donor doesn't want the IRS form and doesn't send back the Deed, I don't bug them. janice Janice Klein Director, Mitchell Museum of the American Indian [log in to unmask] www.mitchellmuseum.org -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of [log in to unmask] Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2005 10:06 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Returning Deed of Gifts I sometimes have a hard time of donors returning Deed of Gifts. I include a self addressed, stamped envelope, but that doesn't seem to be enough. Would appreciate any advice on the matter, or a link to previous discussions. Regards, Joshua K. Blay ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . 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