Comment on Save that Money: Ensuring Donations Received Through Crowdfunding are Properly Protected

Blake Scott recently published a Comment entitled, Save that Money: Ensuring Donations Received Through Crowdfunding are Properly Protected, 10 Tex. Tech Est. Plan. & Cmty. Prop. L. J. 395-416 (Summer 2018). Provided below is the introduction to the Comment.

Crowdfunding has quickly become one of the most popular ways to raise money in today’s internet-driven society. The purpose of this comment is to bring awareness to the major property and estate planning issues embedded in crowdfunding, consider possible solutions to those issues, and ultimately offer guidance to attorneys so they can provide informed and competent advice to clients engaged in crowdfunding.

Before diving headfirst into the relatively new world of crowdfunding, specific nomenclature and terms must be established and defined. Following the definitions, this comment will provide a brief background on crowdfunding and the exponential growth it has seen in the past decade. It is important to understand the rapidly growing trend of crowdfunding to properly plan for the future impact it will have on estate planning as well as society as a whole. The comment will conclude  by offering guidance on how Texas attorneys can advise their clients before, during, and after such clients take on the challenge of running a successful crowdfunding campaign.