Grandma is in the nursing home and her house is being sold. Is now the right time to divide up her belongings, or should we wait and simply store everything?
There are five children in the family and each of them wore the same hand-knit sweater. When mom passes, who should get that?
Estate planning is a valuable and necessary process in our modern times, and like most, you probably have given careful, even deliberate consideration to how you want your largest assets to be passed on; but have you given the same deliberate thought to how you want your smaller, non-titled assets to be handed down? We’d like to argue that, from an emotional standpoint, planning for the transfer of your personal, non-titled possessions could be just as important.
Let’s take a moment to define what we mean by non-titled personal assets. These are your personal possessions that do not require legal title and might include such items as jewelry, tools, photographs, hand-made items, clothing, family heirlooms, clocks, furniture, and more. For the purposes of this article, we are concerned with items whose primary value is sentimental, not monetary. Items of large monetary value probably are better addressed in a traditional will.
Planning for the transfer of these assets may not seem like top priority, but most attorneys who specialize in estate planning say that the smaller non-titled items often cause some of the biggest problems when settling estates. There are a number of reasons for this; divorce, second marriages, blended families, large families, sentimental attachments to items, the age of potential heirs, interest level among heirs, the strength of your relationships, and overall family dynamics are all challenges that serve to complicate the process. Because these assets tend to be highly personal by nature, the emotional stakes surrounding the division of these assets can be high, and a lack of planning will only compound problems. In short, a lack of planning can lead to some serious sour grapes among potential heirs.
Another danger posed by a lack of planning is the loss of information associated with your personal items. Because the value of many personal belongings lies in the sentimental, and not the monetary value of the item, preservation of the stories, origin, family history, and meaning associated with these possessions is vital. This information easily can get lost if you don’t take purposeful steps to preserve it.
Additionally, advanced planning is the only way you can be sure that your wishes will be met, and it lets you control when those wishes are carried out (i.e., you may choose to give with warm hands or you may prefer to wait until your estate is divided).
We firmly believe that the peace of mind that comes from ensuring the orderly and meaningful transfer of your most treasured belongings is invaluable at any age, and we encourage our clients to do advanced planning. However, knowing how to plan for this process can be confusing and complicated, and that, coupled with the fact that it is a highly personal process, can cause us to drag our proverbial feet.
We are here to help! If you are interested in learning more about the steps involved in the planning process or would like our assistance with the process, be sure to attend our upcoming workshop on the subject, to be held January 11, 2011, from noon until 1 p.m. We also have a number of resources that we can recommend on the subject. Anyone interested can phone our Retirement Concierge, Lisa Mauser, at 263-5126 or contact her via e-mail at http://www.blogger.com/Lisa@GJStocks.com.
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