## Facts

- Deborah Carter worked for the decedent for about 10 years as a housekeeper and personal helper.
- Shortly before his death, the decedent told Carter that he loved her, wanted her to have his money, and specifically wanted to give her $80,000 so she could purchase a liquor store.
- The decedent wrote a check payable to Carter for $80,000 and delivered it to her.
- Carter presented the check for payment the next day, after the decedent had died.
- Charles Percy, the personal representative of the decedent’s estate, refused to honor or pay the $80,000 represented by the check.
- Carter pursued payment through the probate process, and the trial court ordered the estate to pay Carter $80,000.
- Percy appealed the judgment ordering the estate to pay.

## Issues

1. Whether a check delivered by a donor as a gift is enforceable against the donor’s estate when the donor dies before the check is paid by the bank.
2. Whether the evidence supported the trial court’s finding that the decedent had present donative intent and completed an inter vivos gift by delivering the $80,000 check to Carter.

## Decision

- The Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s order requiring the estate to pay Carter $80,000.
- The court concluded that the record supported the finding that the decedent intended to make a present gift to Carter and delivered the check to carry out that intent.
- The court rejected the estate’s argument that the donor’s death, by itself, defeats the donee’s right to recover on a gift check that had not been paid before death.
- The court treated the bank’s ability or authority to pay after the drawer’s death as separate from the estate’s liability on a valid claim based on the completed gift.

## Legal Principles

- An inter vivos gift requires (1) present donative intent, (2) delivery, and (3) acceptance.
- Delivery of a check, when paired with proof of present intent to give and acceptance by the donee, can satisfy the delivery and acceptance elements of an inter vivos gift.
- A donor’s death may affect the bank’s authority to pay from the account, but it does not automatically eliminate the donee’s ability to assert a claim against the donor’s estate based on a completed gift.
- Appellate review gives weight to the trial court’s fact findings and credibility calls when supported by the record.

## Conclusion

Carter v. Percy holds that where a decedent wrote and delivered an $80,000 check to a longtime housekeeper with present intent to make a gift, the gift could be enforced as a claim against the estate even though the decedent died before the bank paid the check, and the Nebraska Supreme Court therefore affirmed the order requiring the estate to pay Carter $80,000.


Carter v. Percy, 708 N.W.2d 645 (2006)