If you have a collection of art or other valuable items, such as vintage vehicles or artifacts, it is crucial to think about them when making your estate plan. They may require more consideration than the purely financial aspects of your estate, such as stocks or dollars in the bank.
Here are some of the things to consider:
Personal taste counts for a lot
Most beneficiaries would be delighted to receive a sum of money or a collection of stocks. They might not all be so keen on receiving a vintage motorcycle or a painting of a naked man. Everyone has different tastes, so it is wise to ascertain which if any beneficiaries might enjoy a particular item before leaving it to them.
The ability to care for an item
Let’s say you own a 50-foot-high sculpture by a renowned artist. Even if your children like it, they might not have the space to put it. Alternatively, you may want to leave a piece of textile from a native American burial site to one of your children. However, the textile is in a delicate state and needs to be kept in a carefully controlled sealed environment to prevent it from deteriorating. Your child might not have the means to install that sort of system in their house, so leaving it to them would hasten the item’s destruction.
The value of things
You would like to distribute your collection of things between your children equally, as you don’t want them fighting about money. The problem is that putting a price on things can be difficult. What is the vintage motorcycle worth? What about the 50-foot sculpture or the fragile piece of textile? Even if you bring in experts to determine the value of each item, they still might not agree. One might think you could sell the sculpture for $50,000 while another believes it might reach as much as $200,000 at auction if you wait a few years until the artist dies.
As you can see, there is a lot to consider when estate planning for your collections. Legal guidance can help you learn more about the best way forward.