When estate planning, it is very common to think about assets that have a lot of financial value. This could include a life insurance policy, a family home, a vacation property, commercial real estate, an investment portfolio and things of this nature. And it is certainly true that you need to address these big-ticket items when making an estate plan.
But it is also important to think about sentimental value and the impact that family heirlooms are going to have on the next generation. If you do not include these in the estate plan, there is a higher chance of disputes and conflicts between your beneficiaries. Even when items do not have much financial value – like an old set of dishes or books that a child remembers from when they were growing up – they can still have a tremendous amount of sentimental value and need to be accounted for.
How should you do this?
There are many tactics you can use to address items with sentimental value. It could be as simple as listing in your will who you want to get specific items. This way, your adult children or even grandchildren do not have grounds to argue about what you would have wanted. They directly know how you wanted these items to be split up and who should receive them.
That said, you may want to give your beneficiaries more say in the matter. You can often talk about these issues in advance. For instance, some people will give gifts outside of their estate plan, letting beneficiaries choose sentimental items that they want, perhaps taking turns to do so. At the very least, you could have a conversation with your beneficiaries to explain how things are going to be split up and ensure that everyone is on the same page.
No matter how you address it, just be sure you know what legal steps to take when getting your estate plan together.