Does a sibling have any rights to gifts my mother gave me years ago?
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Does a sibling have any rights to gifts my mother gave me years ago?
My mother is still living . She is 90 years old and living in a memory care unit. My
younger sister asked me to make a list of all the items my mother gave to me over
the span of my life. I’m 62 years old. I told her my sister no.
Does my sister have any legal rights to gifts my mother gave me?
I’m baffled why she wants a list.
Asked on January 5, 2017 under Estate Planning, Missouri
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
No, she does not have any right to this--and, in fact, your mother would have no right to them, either, assuming she was mentally competent. A gift once given cannot be ungiven; it belongs to the receipient, and the giver has no rights to it. It is possible that your younger sibling believes that some of these gifts, especially ones given more recently (when your mother was suffering or starting to suffer some cognitive impairment), were not "gifts" but rather things you took without permission. It's also possible that if your mother has a will, it states that you will inherit $X less the value of the gifts you have already received, which would make this list relevant.
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