Gift List

Using a gift list to supplement your will

While a gift list can’t replace your will, using a gift list and a will together is a great way to add flexibility to your estate planning.

When you do your estate planning, you may want to leave a specific item to someone.  For example, you might want to give your antique rocking chair to your niece when you die.  The default way to do this is to make a specific bequest in your will (or revocable trust) saying that the rocking chair goes to your niece, but what if you change your mind later and decide to leave it to someone else?

If you had written that gift into your will, changing your mind means changing your will.  In Washington State, there’s way to change your mind with redoing your will: writing a gift list to go with your will.

A gift list is exactly what the name implies: a document you draw up with a list of items you want to give away on your death along with the names of the people who are to get each item on the list.  If your will refers to a gift list, that list becomes part of your will.  So, how is this different that just putting the gifts into your will?  The biggest difference is that if you change your list, you’re not changing your will.  You can replace a gift list at any time, and unlike signing a will, which has very specific legal requirement to be valid, writing a new list is simple.

For your list to be valid, it must either be in your handwriting or if not handwritten, signed by you.  While this is enough to make a list valid, it’s best to sign and date any list you prepare.  If you don’t sign a handwritten list, there could be a question of whether you really wrote it.  Also, if you didn’t date your list, and you replace it with a new one, there could be confusion about which list is the newest one (state law says the newest list controls).

You can use a list for many types of items, including cars and boats, but there are some items you can’t give to someone in a list.  These items include real property, mobile homes, bank accounts, money (but collector coins are allowed).  The full list of items that can, and cannot, be given through a gift list is set out in Revised Code of Washington (RCW) section 11.12.260.

While a gift list can’t replace your will, using a gift list and a will together is a great way to add flexibility to your estate planning.