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Abstract: 

Charitable gift planning is often an interdisciplinary undertaking, involving development officers and other nonprofit personnel, attorneys, accountants, insurance professionals, financial planners, appraisers, and representatives of other professions. When people from these varied backgrounds collaborate on a proposed charitable transfer, each brings his or her own perspective to bear on the problem. An often-overlooked aspect of such collaboration is that each of these professionals has undertaken to abide by a set of ethical rules applicable to his or her own profession. This article begins by briefly reviewing those ethical rules, pointing out some of the parallel considerations they exhibit. Then, it examines how those rules may apply to some everyday charitable planning situations.

Keywords: General Competency; Recognition of Limitations; Conflicts of Interest; Donor-Advised Fund Confidentiality; Tax Professionals and Circular 230

Affiliations:  1: Cummings and Lockwood; 2: Founding Editor, Family Foundation Advisor.