Inheritance - splitting up your collection in your will

[Kevin]

I am 48 and have a 6 year old and 5 year old. Probably should have done this 10 years prior (have kids, that is), but that’s a story for another day.

I’m currently working on: T206 (approaching 300 cards), C46, 1950 Bowman. The C46s and Bowmans are taking a back seat as I focus on the remaining 220+ cards in T206. I do have some other cool cards that I collected in the 80s. Mostly 50s Topps. I also have a coin collection that I’ve long neglected and may start up again when the T206 is complete. So, if I get to 80 years old, I [i]should[/] have the set close to completion. I may have all the US cents from the 1790s through present day. Quite a few Morgan’s.

I’ve been showing the kids the cards, sometimes they are interested, sometimes they aren’t. What have you guys done? Jay’s estimate of the T206 set at 520 cards of $70k sounds right. I gather the fairest thing would be: 1 child gets the T206 and the other gets the rest including the coins.

Of course, you never know when your time is up so 32 years may be less than that. (Jeez, I sure hope not. And, jeez, I wish I had kids in my 30s so I could see them and their children.) What have you guys done in regards to splitting up sets?

[BeanTown]

Play it safe and go to your favorite auction house and get a deal all set up for your kids. Then just spell out what percentage of the auction proceeds go to each kid. If they want to keep some of the collection, then name an appraiser to use at that time. Having a third party involved should eliminate any bickering amongst family members.

[Carter08]

A 43 year old here that ended up having lovely boys that are only 2 years old and 2 months old. You are not alone.

[Casey2296]

My collection is an asset of my trust which my kids get 50/50 when I'm gone. It's up to them if they want to keep all or just one card each and sell the rest. If one wants to keep the entire collection then they would have to buy the others half. I'll be gone so they can do with it what they want.

[sphere and ash]

You can start a family limited liability company: let’s call it T206 LLC. The company would own all of your collection, while you would own 49%, your wife would own 49%, and each of your children would own 1% of T206 LLC.

You could, at your discretion, give them an increasing share of your collection over time. A good tax accountant or lawyer could help you with the estate planning implications of this strategy. I mention it because it gives you more flexibility than one child gets Wagner and the other Plank.

Record-keeping for a family LLC is not a negligible task, but if your collection is valuable enough, it is an option worth considering.

[packs]

My honest opinion as a person who loves cards is that no one will want your cards. Sell your collection when you feel like you've enjoyed it long enough and put that money aside evenly.

[slightlyrounded]

Originally Posted by packs

My honest opinion as a person who loves cards is that no one will want your cards. Sell your collection when you feel like you've enjoyed it long enough and put that money aside evenly.

This. My grandfather, a rare first edition science fiction collector/dealer, recently passed away. While we all appreciate and admire his huge collection, it’s an absolute albatross around our necks to deal with. There’s no way we will ever have the knowledge or backstory around most of it, and that makes valuation tricky. When you add the bookkeeping and accounting time required, it’s far more generous to liquidate yourself if possible. His situation really opened my eyes to how I want to position my own collection for my kids as time goes by.

[todeen]

My mother is a collector. She has hundreds of pieces of milk glass and brass, some Hummel, and some oak furniture. My dad has art work. My sister's and I don't have careers as successful as my father. Smaller homes, different priorities. We are going to have to liquidate most of it after we cherry pick items not outlined in the will. Luckily I know enough about collecting to make sure we can maximize our value, but it will be a big challenge and time consuming. Currently with the age of your kids it's tough to tell what careers they end up with, size of their home, priorities once they are married and have kids.

At this stage, I would set aside a small group of items for each kid - a couple cards, a couple coins, some jewelry, some other items you haven't mentioned here- and make plans to sell the rest and divide the funds.

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[Johnny630]

Inheritances want cash not cards.

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by Johnny630

Inheritances want cash not cards.

Sad but True

[drcy]

Don't assume the kids and grandkids will have your same interests.

My dad was a chemical engineering professor. He said he went into the field because of having an older brother who was an engineer (mechanical) and a high school chemistry professor was good. He said his field choice was a matter of happenstance and he wasn't about to be one of those parents who required a major of his kids.

However, one or both of your kids may be interested in your collecting area. That happens too. They're young and you will find out.

There was a big home furnishing store owner in my hometown. He said he went into the field after selling a relative's stuff after his death, and discovered how much he enjoyed it. You don't know how things will work, and neither did he.

[timzcardz]

Originally Posted by Johnny630

Inheritances want cash not cards.

I know that my younger son would love my collection.

The older son, I'm not so sure.

[parkplace33]

Biggest recommendation is just to have a will outlining what you want. I can't tell you how many horror stories I have heard over the years on collectors who didn't have a will.

[skelly423]

I happen to be an Estate lawyer. (Please note this is not legal advice, and I do not know the laws in your particular jurisdiction, I'm just trying to be helpful).

My advice would be to leave instructions to have you collection appraised at the time you die. Make sure you direct your executor(s) to an appropriate appraiser. Having uneducated family members walking your collection into the local pawn shop is a recipe for disaster.

Once the appraiser puts a value on your cards, your beneficiaries can decide what, if anything, they want from your collection, and the value of those cards/coins they take can be deducted from their share of your estate. Anything they don't want they can sell (again, you should provide direction as to who would be a reputable seller to avoid being scammed).

[packs]

Originally Posted by todeen

My mother is a collector. She has hundreds of pieces of milk glass and brass, some Hummel, and some oak furniture. My dad has art work. My sister's and I don't have careers as successful as my father. Smaller homes, different priorities. We are going to have to liquidate most of it after we cherry pick items not outlined in the will. Luckily I know enough about collecting to make sure we can maximize our value, but it will be a big challenge and time consuming. Currently with the age of your kids it's tough to tell what careers they end up with, size of their home, priorities once they are married and have kids.

At this stage, I would set aside a small group of items for each kid - a couple cards, a couple coins, some jewelry, some other items you haven't mentioned here- and make plans to sell the rest and divide the funds.

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Nobody will want the cards. Don't even think of your collection in terms of it remaining together for any amount of time after you die. If you don't sell your collection first, you will be doing a disservice to your heirs, who will certainly never take the time to know anything about it. It will be pieced out incorrectly and no matter what instructions you leave behind no one will take the time to follow them after your death.

[71buc]

I’m 58 and have been collecting fairly consistently for 50 years. I recently updated my will to include my baseball toys. I have four adult kids. Although they have humored me over the years, none of them have ever really expressed an interest in my collection. I decided to have each of them identify an item from my collection that they wanted. We will sell the rest when I’m 70 and use those funds for a family vacation. When I told them what I was doing they found it to be rather macabre. Nonetheless, their choices were interesting as they didn’t make their choices based on value. In fact some of the more valuable items were left on the table so to speak. Instead they made their selections based on sentiment. When I asked why they made their selections each one of them recounted and linked the item to a memory of me. I was surprised how much they had actually paid attention to my rambling over the years. I have great kids who have pretty good taste.

[egri]

I'm going through something similar right now as my dad has stage 4 kidney cancer. He and I have very different hobbies, so he knows there are one or two items my sister and I each want, but as for the rest, it would best be either donated to charity or sold to someone who will appreciate them more.

[ocjack]

Or, you could just take it with you.

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by ocjack

Or, you could just take it with you.

Sick. Very sick

But nice

[LuckyLarry]

I’ve enjoyed reading through this topic. I collected cards as a kid but sold my childhood collection to my trading buddy Joey when I was in 7th grade back in 1967. Got enough cash to buy a solid meal at Fosters Freeze.

Fast forward to 1988 my oldest son (of four) brought home a pack of the newest Donruss baseball cards and I remembered how much fun collecting was, and started back up again. Pretty quickly switched to vintage (pre 1981) only, and bought my last new cards in 1992.

I’ve only spent money on cards with my extra “play” money. I don’t golf or fish or play poker or ride motorcycles, card collecting is my hobby. I still love it. Thankfully when I got divorced in 2003 my ex got her beanie babies and I kept my cards. Thirty-Three years later (as a set collector) I’ve got a hell of a lot of cards baseball hockey football basketball non-sports.

At 67 years old I’m in good health and plan on enjoying my collection for years to come. My collection is very well organized, but I’d like to go through all these 800 count boxes and make more careful notes on variation cards or “rarities” I possess. I’ve even thought about documenting this by starting a YouTube channel we will see.

I’ve been retired now 11 years, kids have been on their own for years. I’m comfortable, debt free, plenty of time to enjoy my hobby, and still have plenty of “play” money available for cards. Like I mentioned before, 33 years of collecting these worthless pieces of cardboard has produced a substantial collection that I never imagined would be valuable.

This year I finally sold a set of cards that didn’t really fit my collection (all cards were slabbed) they just took up to much room. I felt it would be good for me to sell something, and several months later I’m still glad I did. I didn’t need the money and the check? Went right in the bank.

My son who brought home the pack of 1988 Donruss cards (he turns 44 in a few days) has recently got back into collecting. He likes those shiny, sparkling, 1 of 1 cards that honestly I don’t even understand. Buying “retail” and “hobby” boxes, on card or sticker autos, patch cards, looking for prospects, instagram posts, GEM MINT, etc etc. I don’t have a clue lol. He’s even talked about going to the National!

Last time he was here he went through his collection of “junk wax” cards that still reside in my attic. We had a fun time going through that stuff! We didn’t spend much time looking at my cards, but lets just say he has a good idea that his old man has quite a collection.

Larry

[lumberjack]

About a week ago, Antiques Road Show did a follow up of non collectors who brought what proved to be high end items to be appraised. We are talking about half million to one million dollar pieces.

One of the program's experts said you would be surprised by the number of people who discover they own a one-of-a-kind heirloom and put it up for auction because they don't want to see their survivors fighting over it.

If you have a big collection, maybe things could be divided up evenly, but what if there is a Joe Jackson bat or that pesky T206 Wagner in the mix?
lumberjack