The veterans center has a policy that employees cannot accept gifts from patients. The employees argue that since the gifts were by will, the man was no longer a resident at the time that the gifts were made. Recently, the general counsel for Oklahoma’s Veterans Department testified that he could find no provision in the rules that would prevent the employees from accepting the gifts.
The Norman Transcripthas the full story in “Attorney testifies handbook doesn’t prevent veterans center workers from accepting bequests.”
This is not an unusual problem at long term care facilities.
Residents often do grow close to employees and want to leave them something. The lesson to be learned is that before rewriting your will, you should consult with the facility and an experienced estate planning attorney to see if policy allows you to leave anything to facility employees.
