Black Swamp Find? Tell me more!

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Lorewalker

It is a great story and a great find. Even for non collectors it had to be exhilarating to have found them.

And just to keep in tradition with our discussion...so was it 20 relatives that split up the Heritage proceeds or just half or less than half of that figure? Still, not a ton of money but it is found money with no tax implication, correct? Step up in basis?

Well, all the stories I had heard and seen talked about 20 or so cousins that would share in the inheritance. Now if they were all sharing equally, or maybe some had bigger shares coming than others, I don't know for sure. I'm assuming/guessing the aunt died intestate, and so the Ohio laws in regard to inheritance took over and ended up having so many family members share in the inheritance. If that is the case, there probably were some relatives that had bigger shares than others. For example, if one cousin had passed away, but they had two children, the two children would share what would have been their parent's single share of the inheritance and split it. With that many people involved, can only imagine some of the conversations and discussions on what to do with all those cards. That might also be a reason why the whole story about the actual size of the BSF never came out, to allow for privacy and/or protect interests of other family members. Just guessing, but I can see with that many people involved, and the estate having to go through Probate Court, it could make for some really interesting results, that is for sure.

My original point was that no one or two people were getting the entire $3M or so estimate that was apparently given to them initially about what the cards could be worth. But you are correct about the tax implications though. Because the cards were inherited, they did get a tax basis step-up in value when the aunt passed away. So, the heirs likely ended up having to pay little, if any, income tax on the sale of the cards. But you're also right, whatever they got was found money for the heirs that they likely never expected.