Cognitive decline and charitable giving: Why early planning matters 

Learn how attorneys, CPAs and financial advisors can help older clients plan charitable giving early, protect their intentions and create a lasting legacy.

For many people, charitable giving is about much more than a financial transaction. It reflects deeply held values, connections to causes and communities, and a vision for the legacy they hope to leave behind. 

For attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors working with older clients, that makes charitable planning an important conversation to have early—while clients can clearly articulate their goals and play an active role in shaping their philanthropic legacy. 

As clients age, advisors may increasingly encounter questions related to cognitive decline, diminished capacity, and financial exploitation. Starting the charitable planning conversation before those concerns arise can help protect not only a client’s assets, but also their ability to give on their own terms. 

Here are four ways professional advisors can help clients put their charitable intentions into action—and how the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta can help. 

1. Start the charitable planning conversation early 

You don’t need to wait until a client brings up philanthropy. 

A client’s existing giving can be a natural place to begin. Which nonprofits have they supported consistently? What causes matter most to them? How do they hope their generosity will continue beyond their lifetime? 

Bringing the Community Foundation into these conversations early can help clients turn those ideas into a thoughtful charitable plan. 

Depending on a client’s goals, that could include establishing a donor-advised fund during their lifetime, making a charitable bequest through an estate plan, naming a charitable beneficiary of retirement assets, or creating a fund that can support important causes and community needs for generations to come. 

The Community Foundation works alongside attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors to help clients explore these options and develop a giving strategy that complements their broader financial and estate plans. 

2. Balance generosity with protection 

Changes in a client’s giving behavior can sometimes raise important questions—particularly when an older adult is involved. 

Imagine a longtime client who has historically donated $5,000 each year suddenly asks to liquidate $250,000 in securities and transfer the proceeds to an organization you’ve never heard them mention. Perhaps a new caregiver, friend, or family member is also involved in the conversation. 

The request itself does not necessarily mean anything is wrong. A client may simply have discovered a new cause they care deeply about. 

But an advisor may appropriately ask: Is this consistent with the client’s previously expressed wishes? Does the client understand the transaction? Could someone be exerting undue influence? 

These situations can be difficult, because advisors want to respect their clients’ autonomy and generosity while also fulfilling their professional responsibilities. 

A documented history of charitable planning can provide valuable context. If a client has spent years discussing particular causes, established a charitable fund, and communicated long-term philanthropic goals with their professional advisors and the Community Foundation, it may be easier to understand whether a new request reflects established intentions or warrants additional attention. 

3. Understand protections for older clients 

Professional advisors should also be aware of the regulatory landscape surrounding older clients and potential financial exploitation. 

The Senior Safe Act provides certain protections for eligible financial professionals and institutions that report suspected financial exploitation of adults age 65 and older. Under specified conditions, including training requirements, eligible employees and covered financial institutions may receive immunity from civil or administrative liability when suspected exploitation is reported to an appropriate agency in good faith and with reasonable care. 

For financial professionals subject to FINRA rules, two additional provisions may be relevant. 

FINRA Rule 4512 requires firms to make reasonable efforts to obtain the name and contact information of a trusted contact person for non-institutional customer accounts. That individual may serve as a resource if questions arise about diminished capacity, financial exploitation or other circumstances affecting a client. A trusted contact does not, however, gain authority to make trades or other decisions for the client. 

FINRA Rule 2165 allows a member firm, when certain requirements are met, to place a temporary hold on specified transactions or disbursements when the firm reasonably believes financial exploitation of a “specified adult” has occurred, is occurring, has been attempted or will be attempted. 

These protections can be important when concerns arise. But ideally, a client’s charitable intentions are documented well before safeguards like these become relevant. 

4. Create a charitable legacy while your client can shape it 

Early charitable planning gives clients something particularly valuable: the opportunity to define what generosity means to them. 

At the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, we can help clients explore the causes they care about, consider charitable giving vehicles, document a long-term philanthropic strategy, and determine how they want their giving to continue beyond their lifetime. 

For example, a donor-advised fund can provide flexibility for giving during a client’s lifetime while also creating opportunities to plan for what happens to the fund in the future. A client might name successor advisors, designate specific nonprofits or causes for future support, or direct the fund to address changing community needs over time. 

That planning does not mean a client’s charitable intentions are set in stone. Philanthropy naturally evolves as lives, families, finances, and communities change. 

Instead, planning creates a roadmap. 

If diminished capacity, family disagreement or concerns about undue influence arise later, a history of thoughtful charitable planning can help advisors and family members better understand what the client intended. 

Help your clients make their charitable intentions clear 

For attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors, one of the most valuable times to introduce charitable planning is while clients are actively engaged in shaping their financial and estate plans. 

The goal isn’t simply to protect assets. It’s to protect a client’s ability to be philanthropic on their own terms—and to create a clear path for carrying those values forward. 

The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta partners with professional advisors and their clients to develop thoughtful, flexible charitable giving strategies. From donor-advised funds and legacy giving to complex gifts and long-term philanthropic planning, our team can help you identify solutions that align with your client’s financial goals, charitable interests, and vision for the future. 

Have a client who could benefit from a charitable planning conversation? Connect with our team to explore how we can help you turn their generosity into lasting impact.