Disposing of Family Treasures
Monday, June 25, 2007
Contributed by: Sharon E. White
When there is a death in the family, often the thing that family members fight over the most, or hold grudges about the longest, is who gets which family "treasure." It could be Granddad's gold watch that he received when he retired from the railroad or Grandmother's wedding ring. Frequently it is not the asset that is worth the most but the one with the most sentimental value.
To try to prevent their family members from bickering after their deaths, many people prefer to make the decision about who gets what themselves. There are several ways to accomplish this. One is simply to give the assets during your lifetime. You need to be careful about the gift tax consequences of this method. Under current law, you are allowed to give up to $12,000.00 per year per recipient. If you are married, you and your spouse can give up to $24,000.00 per year per recipient.
Many people, however, want to retain possession and control of their things during their lifetime and, therefore, giving them away during life is not an acceptable option. One way to make provision for who takes what is to have a provision in your Will which makes specific bequests. For example: I leave the family Bible to my son, Joe, if he survives me. One problem with this method is that every time you change your mind about who gets what, you have to make a trip to your lawyer to execute a new Will or a Codicil.
The method I recommend to my clients is to add a provision in their Will that they may leave a handwritten memorandum which disposes of certain tangible personal property. The memorandum must be completely in your handwriting. You should not type and then sign it. You should date and sign the memorandum. When you dispose of or acquire assets, have more grandchildren, or change your mind, you simply write a new memorandum. Be sure to keep the memorandum with your Will or in some other safe place and be sure that your executor knows where both of these documents are. Also, be sure that, when you write a new memorandum, you destroy the old memorandum so that there is no confusion.
This column is published for informational purposes only. It should not be construed as legal advice and is not intended to create an attorney client relationship. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author's law firm or its individual partners.
