Inheritance - splitting up your collection in your will

[FrankWakefield]

Todd's #7 has quite a bit of merit.


Is half of a collection a collection? Or a third (if you have 3 kids)? If you split a collection 3 ways, and then the next generation has it all going to one descendant, is that 3 collections combined, or one collection reassembled??

It's in the locating and accumulating, the stories, the hunt. Who is the collector, the someone who buys 520 white border cards, or someone that gradually and eventually tracks down and acquires those 520?

[steve B]

If you're not crazy wealthy and get alzheimers, it will all have to be sold to cover your long term care.

[obcbobd]

Leaving cards to your heirs can be quite the headache for them. One option as suggested is to sell off a large portion of your stuff once you hit 70. This has some merits, but what if I live to 95? I enjoy my collection, it is not an investment, so I will not sell off the majority of my stuff. I will pare down a bit :-) I think the thing to do is have everything organized and documented. Physically, the bulk of my stuff (67-77 BB/FB/Hcky vg/ex), from my childhood is not worth too much. However, mixed in with those albums are some pre-war sets and cards with a bit more value. I am documenting everything and putting together a list of dealers/auction houses and friends that my heirs can talk with. I plan to visit a couple of dealers I know at the next major show and get their advice. Once I have everything documented and organized, with a checklist for my heir(s) to follow I will feel a lot better.

I have debated reviewing things with the person I plan to leave the card with, but what if things change? I'm only 59, I could change who I leave things too. I will likely document and review things to the executors of my will.

[jingram058]

I really like the idea of hiding some of my stuff in the house somewhere, like a time capsule. My wife (younger than me) and my daughter (also younger than me) know about my cards, balls, scrapbooks, etc., and know they are worth some money. They don't like it like I do, but they get it. If I croak, they know what to do. But if I hid some stuff up in the attic, to be found in the distant future, how cool is that? My luck, a hurricane would take the roof off, and shred my beloved cards!

[Exhibitman]

My daughter already told me she is not interested in anything other than the collection of materials I've amassed related to our pro fighter cousins Ray Miller and Bennie Berris.




I am leaving it all to her anyway and she can do with it as she pleases. She can sell it for a mint, either gold or chocolate depending on how things go.

[molenick]

Originally Posted by steve B

If you're not crazy wealthy and get alzheimers, it will all have to be sold to cover your long term care.

First, I hope this is not something specific to Steve or his family since it is a very precise example. I would generalize it and say that if you do not have enough insurance or other funds to cover a major unexpected expense, or even normal expenses after retirement, you may need to sell some or all of your collection to do so. For better or worse, I have a feeling many people consider their collection part of their retirement planning.

My will is probably not specific enough. It basically says that my children should divide my collection as they may agree on and in absence of such agreement the Executor should divide it in shares as equal in value as practicable. But none of the parties involved are experts in collectibles. And who wants to spend time looking up prices of their dead dad's cards? So while they may want to keep a few items for sentimental or other reasons (my daughter is a big fan of the older photographic material, like cabinets and cdvs) there is no reason they should keep the collection intact.

I should probably put a sticky note on the will saying "What I mean is, keep what you want then call [insert your favorite auction house] and have them sell everything else and split the proceeds."

[RL]

my opinion would be to start liquidating your collection and put the money in a trust fund

[Mark]

It's very thoughtful and decent of all of you to sell your collections as you grow old or to organize things for the estate sale. My late father had large accumulations of coins, stamps, among other things, and he didn't prepare for his passing at all, even though he lived into his early 90's. To my surprise, I didn't mind going through his collections, his tools, his investments, his piles of junk. I am probably a rare case: it helped me deal with his death. I won't expect my heirs to welcome a similarly disorganized inheritance from me---but I expect I'll leave them to do a little bit of sorting out, just in case.

[bmattioli]

My collection will stay intact and with me until the end. Non-Negotiable..

[parkplace33]

Originally Posted by bmattioli

My collection will stay intact and with me until the end. Non-Negotiable..

What do you expect to happen to your collection when you pass on? Have you outline any special plans?

[steve B]

Originally Posted by molenick

First, I hope this is not something specific to Steve or his family since it is a very precise example. I would generalize it and say that if you do not have enough insurance or other funds to cover a major unexpected expense, or even normal expenses after retirement, you may need to sell some or all of your collection to do so. For better or worse, I have a feeling many people consider their collection part of their retirement planning.

My will is probably not specific enough. It basically says that my children should divide my collection as they may agree on and in absence of such agreement the Executor should divide it in shares as equal in value as practicable. But none of the parties involved are experts in collectibles. And who wants to spend time looking up prices of their dead dad's cards? So while they may want to keep a few items for sentimental or other reasons (my daughter is a big fan of the older photographic material, like cabinets and cdvs) there is no reason they should keep the collection intact.

I should probably put a sticky note on the will saying "What I mean is, keep what you want then call [insert your favorite auction house] and have them sell everything else and split the proceeds."

Been through it twice, memory units are very expensive, and long term insurance may not kick in right away. Inheriting anything with a value that isn't nearly zero is not happening without a lot of planning and foresight. That pesky time limit on gifts before you spend down to the nearly destitute you have to be to get any of it covered under Medicare. And what they cover buys you a bed in a warehouse to put it bluntly.

My kids are just starting to show any real interest in collectibles, but I'm also an older parent. I'm considering gifting them some of the better items long before it becomes an issue. I just have to find someone who can show me a way where it's somewhat flexible in the event their interests change.

[mrreality68]

Never easy conversation.
But make a will now and then update later so you have a will in the event something happens.
In the now will plan for it to be sold and the steps on the where and the how.
The later will is as your kids get older see if they have and interest or not in your collection and then take some of the recommendations others mentioned above if not interested.
They are so young and I would not want to sell before I see what their interest are or are not.
But be covered either way

[kailes2872]

I am going through a bit of this right now. My dad is very unhealthy and probably doesn't have a lot of time left. He is a contract hay farmer. He doesn't have land, but he has a ton of big iron (tractors, bailers, etc.). All told, and sold at the right price to the right outlet, it has a value in the 400-600k range - even adjusted for wholesale.

About three years ago when his health started failing, I spoke with him about liquidating. He said that if he sold, he would just be sitting in his chair waiting to die - so he didn't sell.

Now, the inevitable is going to happen soon. I will have to figure out inventory and become a tractor salesman. I live in western PA, he lives in a very rural county of Washington state - 5 hours to fly to and another 90 minute drive.

I have a family and a pretty demanding job so I am not sure how my brother and I are going to liquidate his estate without spending a lot more time there than I (or my wife) would like. It is not going to be fun. I actually need to find a service where they do this sort of thing and take a piece of it. Even a big piece of it is worth not giving 6 months of my life away to sell everything.

It has really taught me a lesson and I will probably target 70 years old as the time to start liquidating. My daughter has made it clear that she likes the TV cards (55 Bowman) and the ones that look like wood (62 Topps). My oldest has said that he wants everything else, but he is probably humoring me. So, we will have additional discussions. What I won't do is tell them that if I sell it that I am just waiting to die and then hold on and let them deal with it and get 10 cents on the dollar of what is fair and reasonable.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by kailes2872

I am going through a bit of this right now. My dad is very unhealthy and probably doesn't have a lot of time left. He is a contract hay farmer. He doesn't have land, but he has a ton of big iron (tractors, bailers, etc.). All told, and sold at the right price to the right outlet, it has a value in the 400-600k range - even adjusted for wholesale.

About three years ago when his health started failing, I spoke with him about liquidating. He said that if he sold, he would just be sitting in his chair waiting to die - so he didn't sell.

Now, the inevitable is going to happen soon. I will have to figure out inventory and become a tractor salesman. I live in western PA, he lives in a very rural county of Washington state - 5 hours to fly to and another 90 minute drive.

I have a family and a pretty demanding job so I am not sure how my brother and I are going to liquidate his estate without spending a lot more time there than I (or my wife) would like. It is not going to be fun. I actually need to find a service where they do this sort of thing and take a piece of it. Even a big piece of it is worth not giving 6 months of my life away to sell everything.

It has really taught me a lesson and I will probably target 70 years old as the time to start liquidating. My daughter has made it clear that she likes the TV cards (55 Bowman) and the ones that look like wood (62 Topps). My oldest has said that he wants everything else, but he is probably humoring me. So, we will have additional discussions. What I won't do is tell them that if I sell it that I am just waiting to die and then hold on and let them deal with it and get 10 cents on the dollar of what is fair and reasonable.

Did he have a "best employee" who could take it over either all of it or part of it to go on his own?

That might be a workable plan.

[kailes2872]

Originally Posted by steve B

Did he have a "best employee" who could take it over either all of it or part of it to go on his own?

That might be a workable plan.

We have a couple of options like that. We are also looking at things like Richie Brothers and Big Iron. The net of it that he understands the market much better and could get far better value. Per the point above, we are very close to the long term terminal care. We need to execute the DPOA and begin the process of liquidating all of the assets - especially if we are looking at 8k per month in long term care. He will not like it as he has some decent days (maybe 1 day every 3 weeks - the rest of the time he is pretty much bedridden).

It has really given me a lesson on what I will eventually need to do to make things easier on my family. These next few months are not going to be fun.

[parkplace33]

Maybe hire an estate attorney? They can handle everything for you.

Originally Posted by kailes2872

I am going through a bit of this right now. My dad is very unhealthy and probably doesn't have a lot of time left. He is a contract hay farmer. He doesn't have land, but he has a ton of big iron (tractors, bailers, etc.). All told, and sold at the right price to the right outlet, it has a value in the 400-600k range - even adjusted for wholesale.

About three years ago when his health started failing, I spoke with him about liquidating. He said that if he sold, he would just be sitting in his chair waiting to die - so he didn't sell.

Now, the inevitable is going to happen soon. I will have to figure out inventory and become a tractor salesman. I live in western PA, he lives in a very rural county of Washington state - 5 hours to fly to and another 90 minute drive.

I have a family and a pretty demanding job so I am not sure how my brother and I are going to liquidate his estate without spending a lot more time there than I (or my wife) would like. It is not going to be fun. I actually need to find a service where they do this sort of thing and take a piece of it. Even a big piece of it is worth not giving 6 months of my life away to sell everything.

It has really taught me a lesson and I will probably target 70 years old as the time to start liquidating. My daughter has made it clear that she likes the TV cards (55 Bowman) and the ones that look like wood (62 Topps). My oldest has said that he wants everything else, but he is probably humoring me. So, we will have additional discussions. What I won't do is tell them that if I sell it that I am just waiting to die and then hold on and let them deal with it and get 10 cents on the dollar of what is fair and reasonable.

[nebboy]

IM 58 and have a boy with a driving permit. He says he likes my collection but I can tell he wants to make me happy. So we came up with the idea that because of my age I will probably not know my grandchildren as adults so I would like to give my 5 best to him for his kids with a note from me to them to pass along this cards from grandpa John to as many generations as possible. I will sell the rest of my collection for my kid to put a down payment on a house when he’s ready.

[todeen]

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

Todd's #7 has quite a bit of merit.





Is half of a collection a collection? Or a third (if you have 3 kids)? If you split a collection 3 ways, and then the next generation has it all going to one descendant, is that 3 collections combined, or one collection reassembled??



It's in the locating and accumulating, the stories, the hunt. Who is the collector, the someone who buys 520 white border cards, or someone that gradually and eventually tracks down and acquires those 520?

Totally understand the thought process about half a collection, or 1/3 of a collection.

My dad has a small collection of watches, only one of which I particularly want, and none of them are rare. He told me they are mine after he dies, my mom's jewelry will go to my sisters. The watch I want was Great Uncle Bill's watch that he used for surveying military air strips around the world. He left two with my uncle. One christmas I asked my uncle if he would donate one that my siblings and I could clean up and give to my dad. He said yes. Well my dad got sick and he has started to plan his estate. I was frank with him one day and said if he wanted any watches to go to grandkids he needed to tell me now or I would keep his watches together as a collection.... because I love collections, not pieces. Even though I only have sentimental feelings for just one watch, I know that my desire to show off a collection of watches would be too great to split them up. Maybe at some point I'd be willing to piece them out to nephews, but not immediately after his death.

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