A lot, a whole lot. Here are just some highlights:

• Pledges: Whether the donor’s executor must honor the donor’s pledge to the extent it remains unpaid at donor’s demise.
• Trustee’s obligation to provide information: Whether and to what extent the trustee of an outside-managed trust has a duty to provide information about the trust.
• Charitable deduction: Whether the donor can get a state income tax charitable deduction.
• Validity of will: Whether the document offered up to the probate court as the donor’s last will is valid.
• Charitable IRA Distribution: Whether an individual who makes a gift from his or her IRA has to pay state income tax on the gift amount. New Jersey says he or she does.
• Registering to solicit gifts: Whether a particular charity or type of charity must register with a state in order to solicit gifts within the state.
• Gift annuity regulation: Whether and to what extent a charity must comply with the law of a state before soliciting gift annuities within the state.

These are just a few issue highlights. To be sure, a lot of charitable gift planning issues arise under federal law, especially federal tax law and, to an extent, federal securities law. State law, however, often cannot be avoided or safely ignored.

By Jon Tidd