2010 New York Code
GOB - General Obligations
Article 5 - CREATION, DEFINITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS
Title 15 - (5-1501 - 5-1514) STATUTORY SHORT FORM AND OTHER POWERS OF ATTORNEY FOR FINANCIAL AND ESTATE PLANNING
5-1514 - Certain gift transactions; formal requirements; statutory form.

§ 5-1514. Certain  gift  transactions;  formal requirements; statutory
  form. 1. If the principal intends to authorize the agent to  make  gifts
  other  than  gifts authorized by subdivision fourteen of section 5-1502I
  of this title, the principal must expressly grant such authority  either
  in  a  statutory gifts rider to a statutory short form power of attorney
  or in a  non-statutory  power  of  attorney  executed  pursuant  to  the
  requirements of paragraph (b) of subdivision nine of this section.
    2.  The  principal  may  authorize  the  agent  to  make  gifts to the
  principal's spouse, children and more remote descendents,  and  parents,
  not  to  exceed,  for  each donee, the annual federal gift tax exclusion
  amount  pursuant  to  the  Internal  Revenue  Code.  For  gifts  to  the
  principal's  children  and  more  remote  descendants,  and parents, the
  maximum amount of the gift to each donee shall not exceed twice the gift
  tax exclusion amount, if the principal's spouse  agrees  to  split  gift
  treatment pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code.
    3. The principal may also authorize the agent to:
    (a)  make  gifts  up  to  a  specified  dollar amount, or unlimited in
  amount;
    (b) make gifts to any person or persons;
    (c) make gifts in any of the following ways:
    (1) opening, modifying or terminating a deposit account in the name of
  the principal and other joint tenants;
    (2) opening, modifying or terminating any other joint account  in  the
  name of the principal and other joint tenants;
    (3)  opening, modifying or terminating a bank account in trust form as
  described in section 7-5.1 of the estates, powers and  trusts  law,  and
  designate or change the beneficiary or beneficiaries of such account;
    (4)  opening,  modifying or terminating a transfer on death account as
  described in part four of article thirteen of the  estates,  powers  and
  trusts  law, and designate or change the beneficiary or beneficiaries of
  such account;
    (5) changing the beneficiary  or  beneficiaries  of  any  contract  of
  insurance  on  the  life  of  the  principal or annuity contract for the
  benefit of the principal;
    (6) procuring new, different or additional contracts of  insurance  on
  the  life  of  the principal or annuity contracts for the benefit of the
  principal and designate the beneficiary or  beneficiaries  of  any  such
  contract;
    (7)  designating  or  changing the beneficiary or beneficiaries of any
  type of retirement benefit or plan;
    (8) creating, amending, revoking or terminating an inter vivos  trust;
  and
    (9)  opening,  modifying  or  terminating  other property interests or
  rights of survivorship, and  designate  or  change  the  beneficiary  or
  beneficiaries therein.
    A  gift  to  an  individual authorized by this subdivision may be made
  outright, by exercise or release of a presently exercisable  general  or
  special  power  of  appointment  held  by  the  principal,  to  a  trust
  established or created for such individual, to a  Uniform  Transfers  to
  Minors  Act  account  for  such  individual  (regardless  of  who is the
  custodian), or to a tuition savings account or prepaid tuition  plan  as
  defined  under  section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code for the benefit
  of such individual (without regard  to  who  is  the  account  owner  or
  responsible individual for such account).
    4. An agent may not:
    (a)  exercise  any  authority described in subdivision two or three of
  this section unless such authority is expressly granted in  a  statutory
  gifts  rider  to  a  statutory  short  form  power  of  attorney or in a

non-statutory power of attorney executed pursuant to the requirements of
  paragraph (b) of subdivision nine of this section;
    (b)  make a gift to himself or herself or create in himself or herself
  an interest in  the  principal's  property  pursuant  to  any  grant  of
  authority  described  in subdivision two or three of this section unless
  such authority is expressly granted in a  statutory  gifts  rider  to  a
  statutory  short  form  power of attorney or in a non-statutory power of
  attorney executed pursuant to  the  requirements  of  paragraph  (b)  of
  subdivision nine of this section.
    5.  Any  authority  granted to an agent pursuant to subdivision two or
  three or paragraph (b) of subdivision  four  of  this  section  must  be
  exercised according to any instructions in this document or in any other
  writing  provided  by  the  principal  regarding  the  exercise  of  any
  authority, or otherwise for purposes which the agent reasonably deems to
  be in  the  best  interest  of  the  principal,  specifically  including
  financial,  estate,  or  tax planning, including minimization of income,
  estate, inheritance, generation-skipping transfer or gift taxes.
    6. Construction of the provisions of the statutory gifts rider.    (a)
  In  a statutory gifts rider to a statutory short form power of attorney,
  the language "I grant authority to my agent to make gifts to my  spouse,
  children  and  more  remote descendants, and parents, not to exceed, for
  each donee, the annual federal gift tax exclusion amount pursuant to the
  Internal Revenue  Code.  For  gifts  to  my  children  and  more  remote
  descendants,  and  parents, the maximum amount of the gift to each donee
  shall not exceed twice the gift  tax  exclusion  amount,  if  my  spouse
  agrees  to  split  gift treatment pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code"
  must be construed to mean that the principal authorizes the agent:
    (1) To make gifts on  behalf  of  the  principal  to  the  principal's
  spouse,  children  and  other descendants, and parents. Gifts to a donee
  shall not exceed in any calendar year the amount of the federal gift tax
  exclusion available to  the  principal  under  section  2503(b)  of  the
  Internal  Revenue  Code.  Gifts  may  be made outright or by exercise or
  release of a presently exercisable general power  or  special  power  of
  appointment held by the principal, to a trust established or created for
  such  individual  (provided  that  gifts  to  such trust qualify for the
  federal gift tax exclusion under section 2503(b) or (c) of the  Internal
  Revenue  Code),  to  a  Uniform Transfers to Minors Act account for such
  individual (regardless of who is the custodian), to  a  tuition  savings
  account  or  prepaid  tuition  plan  as defined under section 529 of the
  Internal Revenue Code for the benefit of such individual (without regard
  to who is the account owner of or responsible person for such account);
    (2) To make gifts up to twice the annual federal  gift  tax  exclusion
  amount  on  behalf  of both the principal and the principal's spouse, to
  the principal's children and other  descendants,  and  parents,  if  the
  principal's  spouse  consents to the splitting of such gifts pursuant to
  section 2513 of the Internal Revenue Code;
    (3) To consent, pursuant to Section 2513(a) of  the  Internal  Revenue
  Code,  to  the  splitting of gifts made by the principal's spouse to the
  principal's children and other descendants in any  amount,  and  to  the
  splitting  of  gifts made by the principal's spouse to any other persons
  in amounts not exceeding the aggregate annual gift  tax  exclusions  for
  both  spouses  under Section 2503(b) of said Code (or cognate provisions
  of any successor statute); and
    (4) To satisfy pledges made to organizations,  whether  charitable  or
  otherwise, by the principal.
    (b) Any authority granted to an agent under a statutory gifts rider to
  a  statutory short form power of attorney must be construed to mean that
  the principal authorizes the agent:

(1) To prepare, execute, consent to on behalf of  the  principal,  and
  file  any  return, report, declaration or other document required by the
  laws of the United States, or by  any  state  or  political  subdivision
  thereof,  or  by  any  foreign country or political subdivision thereof,
  which  the  agent deems to be desirable or necessary with respect to any
  gift made under the authority of this section;
    (2) To execute, acknowledge, seal and deliver  any  deed,  assignment,
  agreement,  trust  agreement,  authorization, check, or other instrument
  which the agent deems useful  for  the  accomplishment  of  any  of  the
  purposes enumerated in this section;
    (3)  To  prosecute,  defend, submit to alternative dispute resolution,
  settle and propose or accept a compromise  with  respect  to  any  claim
  existing  in favor of or against the principal based on or involving any
  gift transaction or to intervene in any related action or proceeding;
    (4) To hire, discharge and compensate any attorney, accountant, expert
  witness, or other assistant or assistants  when  the  agent  deems  that
  action  to  be desirable for the proper execution by the agent of any of
  the authorities described in this section, and for the keeping of needed
  records thereof; and
    (5) In general, and in addition to but not in contravention of all the
  specific acts listed in this section, to do any other act or acts  which
  the  agent  deems  desirable  or  necessary to complete any such gift on
  behalf of the principal.
    (c) The authority explicitly  authorized  in  this  section  shall  be
  construed  to include any like authority authorized in any other section
  of this title. Accordingly, such like authorities as are  authorized  in
  any other section of this title may not be exercised by the agent unless
  they  are expressly granted to the agent in the statutory gifts rider or
  in  a  non-statutory  power  of  attorney  executed  pursuant   to   the
  requirements of paragraph (b) of subdivision nine of this section.
    (d)  The  statutory  gifts  rider  may be modified pursuant to section
  5-1503 of this title to contain additional  provisions  authorizing  the
  agent  to  make  any or all of the transactions specified in subdivision
  three of this section.
    7. All authority  described  in  this  section  shall  be  exercisable
  equally with respect to a gift of any property in which the principal is
  interested  at  the  time the power of attorney is given or in which the
  principal becomes interested after that time,  and  whether  located  in
  this state or elsewhere.
    8.  If, after naming the spouse as a permissible recipient of gifting,
  the principal's marriage is  terminated  by  divorce  or  annulment,  as
  defined  in  subparagraph  two  of paragraph (f) of section 5-1.4 of the
  estates, powers and trusts law, the divorce  or  annulment  revokes  the
  authority to gift to the former spouse, unless the statutory gifts rider
  or  the  non-statutory  power  of  attorney  executed  pursuant  to  the
  requirements of paragraph  (b)  of  subdivision  nine  of  this  section
  expressly  provides  otherwise.  If  the authority to gift to the former
  spouse is revoked solely by this subdivision, it shall be revived by the
  principal's remarriage to the former spouse.
    9. To be valid, a statutory gifts rider  to  a  statutory  short  form
  power of attorney must:
    (a)  Be  typed  or printed using letters which are legible or of clear
  type no less than twelve point in size, or, if in writing, a  reasonable
  equivalent thereof.
    (b)  Be  signed  and  dated  by  a  principal  with capacity, with the
  signature of the principal duly acknowledged in  the  manner  prescribed
  for  the  acknowledgment of a conveyance of real property, and witnessed
  by two persons who are  not  named  in  the  instrument  as  permissible

recipients  of  gifts,  in  the  manner described in subparagraph two of
  paragraph (a) of section 3-2.1 of the estates, powers  and  trusts  law.
  The  person who takes the acknowledgment, under this paragraph, may also
  serve as one of the witnesses.
    (c)  Be  accompanied  by  a  statutory short form power of attorney in
  which the authority (SGR) is initialed by the principal.
    (d) Be executed simultaneously with the statutory short form power  of
  attorney and in the manner provided in this section.
    10.  The  use  of  the  following shall be construed as the "Statutory
  Gifts Rider" for a statutory short form power of attorney:
                             "POWER OF ATTORNEY
                       NEW YORK STATUTORY GIFTS RIDER
                 AUTHORIZATION FOR CERTAIN GIFT TRANSACTIONS
    CAUTION TO THE PRINCIPAL: This OPTIONAL rider allows you to  authorize
  your  agent  to  make gifts in excess of an annual total of $500 for all
  gifts described in  (I)  of  the  Grant  of  Authority  section  of  the
  statutory  short  form  Power  of  Attorney  (under  personal and family
  maintenance), or certain other gift transactions during  your  lifetime.
  You  do  not  have  to execute this rider if you only want your agent to
  make gifts described in (I) of the Grant of  Authority  section  of  the
  statutory  short  form Power of Attorney and you initialed "(I)" on that
  section of that form.  Granting any of the following authority  to  your
  agent  gives  your  agent  the  authority  to  take  actions which could
  significantly reduce your  property  or  change  how  your  property  is
  distributed  at your death. "Certain gift transactions" are described in
  section 5-1514 of the General Obligations Law. This Gifts Rider does not
  require your agent to exercise granted authority, but  when  he  or  she
  exercises   this  authority,  he  or  she  must  act  according  to  any
  instructions you provide, or otherwise in your best interest.
    This Gifts Rider and the Power of Attorney it supplements must be read
  together as a single instrument.
    Before signing this document authorizing your agent to make gifts, you
  should seek legal advice to ensure that your intentions are clearly  and
  properly expressed.
    (a) GRANT OF LIMITED AUTHORITY TO MAKE GIFTS
    Granting  gifting  authority  to  your  agent  gives  your  agent  the
  authority  to  take  actions  which  could  significantly  reduce   your
  property.
    If  you  wish to allow your agent to make gifts to himself or herself,
  you must separately grant that authority in subdivision (c) below.
    To grant your agent the gifting authority provided below, initial  the
  bracket to the left of the authority.
    ( ) I grant authority to my agent to make gifts to my spouse, children
  and more remote descendants, and parents, not to exceed, for each donee,
  the  annual  federal  gift tax exclusion amount pursuant to the Internal
  Revenue Code. For gifts to my children and more remote descendants,  and
  parents,  the  maximum amount of the gift to each donee shall not exceed
  twice the gift tax exclusion amount, if my spouse agrees to  split  gift
  treatment pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code.
  This  authority  must  be  exercised  pursuant  to  my  instructions, or
  otherwise for purposes which the agent reasonably deems to be in my best
  interest.
    (b) MODIFICATIONS:
    Use this section if you wish to authorize  gifts  in  amounts  smaller
  than the gift tax exclusion amount, in amounts in excess of the gift tax
  exclusion   amount,   gifts   to  other  beneficiaries,  or  other  gift
  transactions.

Granting such authority to your agent gives your agent the authority  to
  take  actions  which  could  significantly  reduce  your property and/or
  change how your property is distributed at your death. If  you  wish  to
  authorize  your  agent  to  make  gifts  to himself or herself, you must
  separately grant that authority in subdivision (c) below.
  (  )  I grant the following authority to my agent to make gifts pursuant
  to my instructions, or otherwise for purposes which the agent reasonably
  deems to be in my best interest:
  (c) GRANT OF SPECIFIC AUTHORITY FOR AN AGENT TO MAKE GIFTS TO HIMSELF OR
  HERSELF: (OPTIONAL)
  If you wish to authorize your agent to make gifts to himself or herself,
  you must grant that authority  in  this  section,  indicating  to  which
  agent(s)   the   authorization  is  granted,  and  any  limitations  and
  guidelines.
  ( ) I grant specific authority for the following agent(s)  to  make  the
  following gifts to himself or herself:
  This  authority  must  be  exercised  pursuant  to  my  instructions, or
  otherwise for purposes which the agent reasonably deems to be in my best
  interest.
  (d) ACCEPTANCE BY THIRD PARTIES: I agree to indemnify  the  third  party
  for  any  claims  that  may  arise  against  the  third party because of
  reliance on this Statutory Gifts Rider.
  (e) SIGNATURE OF PRINCIPAL AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT:
  In Witness Whereof I have hereunto signed my name on  _________________,
  20____.
  PRINCIPAL signs here:
  ________________________________
  (acknowledgment)
  (f) SIGNATURES OF WITNESSES:
  By  signing  as  a  witness, I acknowledge that the principal signed the
  Statutory Gifts Rider in my presence  and  the  presence  of  the  other
  witness,  or  that the principal acknowledged to me that the principal's
  signature was affixed by him or her or at his or her direction.  I  also
  acknowledge  that  the  principal  has  stated that this Statutory Gifts
  Rider reflects his or her wishes and  that  he  or  she  has  signed  it
  voluntarily.  I am not named herein as a permissible recipient of gifts.
  ___________________________        _________________________
  Signature of witness 1             Signature of witness 2
  ___________________________        _________________________
  Date                               Date
  ___________________________        _________________________
  Print name                         Print name
  ___________________________        _________________________
  Address                            Address
  ___________________________        _________________________
  City, State, Zip code              City, State, Zip code
  (g) This document prepared by: ____________________________"