{"id":208133,"date":"2025-09-07T17:20:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T17:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/208133\/"},"modified":"2025-09-07T17:20:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T17:20:06","slug":"collect-wine-art-baseball-cards-youll-need-an-estate-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/208133\/","title":{"rendered":"Collect wine, art, baseball cards? You’ll need an estate plan."},"content":{"rendered":"

Your collection of baseball cards, Birkin handbags or aging Bordeaux may deliver hours of pleasure. It\u2019s also an estate planner\u2019s nightmare.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

However much joy those stamps, coins or bobbleheads might bring you now, your collection is also an asset, and you\u2019ll need to decide what becomes of it when you pass on.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Placing a precise value on a collection is tricky business, according to accountants and attorneys who deal with estate planning.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

And what happens to those paintings or vintage guitars when you die? Splitting a collection seems to defeat its purpose. And some of your heirs may not share your enthusiasm for Eisenhower-era comic books.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cImagine you don\u2019t have a will,\u201d said Wayne Hassay<\/a>, LegalShield provider attorney and managing partner at Maguire Schneider Hassay in Ohio. \u201cHow do you distribute 10,000 baseball cards or 500 bottles of wine among your six intestate heirs?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here, then, are five expert tips for handling collections in estate plans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Document your collection\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you have a collection with financial or sentimental value, estate planners say, consider making a record of what you have and what it\u2019s worth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAt a minimum, self-document your collection,\u201d said Sarah Gaymon<\/a>, a CPA at Berkowitz Pollack Brant in Florida. Your own documentation \u201cis something credible, and it gives you a baseline of what the value could be.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ideally, populate a spreadsheet or fill a file folder with descriptions of every item in the collection, including how you got it, why it\u2019s valuable, what you paid and what it might be worth today.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t have time for a spreadsheet? Take photographs or video of your collection. While you\u2019re at it, make a visual record of your other stuff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBack in the day, they used to say, \u2018Walk around your house and take a video of all the rooms in your house,\u2019\u201d said Elizabeth Buffardi, a CPA and certified financial planner in the Chicago area. \u201cThat way, if there\u2019s a natural disaster, you can say, \u2018Look, insurance company, here\u2019s all the stuff that was in my house.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Consider insuring your collection\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you have a collection with considerable value, experts say, look into having it insured. And don\u2019t presume it\u2019s already insured.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an assumption, \u2018Well, I\u2019ve got homeowners insurance, it has to count,\u201d Hassay said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Maybe not. Homeowner policies vary widely in whether and how they cover collections.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Consider taking out a valuable items policy<\/a>, which is typically designed to cover jewelry, musical instruments and other collectibles.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the process, the insurer will probably ask you to document your collection. They may ask you to get an appraisal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

First, though, decide if it\u2019s worth the cost to insure your collection. Insurance costs are rising<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to think about, if it\u2019s lost, stolen, damaged, how sad will I be?\u201d Buffardi said. \u201cHow big of a hit are you willing to take on it?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Appraise your most valuable items\u00a0<\/p>\n

Formal appraisals can get pricey. And you might not want to hire an appraiser to pin a price on your Beanie Babies collection.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But for high-value artwork, jewelry and the like, appraisals matter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you start broaching five figures and above, it\u2019s probably not a bad idea to do it,\u201d said Michael Chuah, principal attorney at Paxterra Law in Los Angeles.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Appraisals help with insurance coverage and estate planning. They also signal to potential heirs that the weird, splotchy painting above the fireplace should not go to the dumpster.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tell loved ones what you have\u00a0<\/p>\n

The last thing you want, after your death, is for your prized baseball card collection to land in a recycling bin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You know why your collection matters. Your loved ones may not. Consider taking some time to walk them through it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of times, people will save something because they think it\u2019s valuable, and then the younger generation will say, \u2018Omigod, that\u2019s the first thing I\u2019m throwing out,\u2019\u201d Buffardi said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Too many aging Americans shy away from discussing their valuables with loved ones, Hassay said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe gut instincts of so many clients I\u2019ve seen over the years is, \u2018It\u2019s about money. It\u2019s private. I\u2019m not going to talk about money,\u2019\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tell your loved ones about your collection, where you keep it, what it\u2019s worth and where to find any documentation about its value and provenance.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In case they don\u2019t plan to keep it, tell them how to find a dealer or auction house that would net them a good price.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re a collector, you know what you have,\u201d Gaymon said. \u201cYou know where to sell it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Write a plan for distributing your collection\u00a0<\/p>\n

Divvying up a collection in an estate plan can be tricky. Who gets the one painting that\u2019s worth five figures? Some loved ones might care more than others about your fine wines or vintage LPs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re going to leave your children $100,000, it\u2019s cash. They can easily spend it,\u201d Gaymon said. \u201cYou leave your kids $40,000 worth of vinyl, how are they going to sell it? Who\u2019s going to buy it?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to include valuable collections in a will or trust, which instruct how to distribute your stuff upon your death.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trusts are generally more complex, but they are ideal vehicles for passing collections to your heirs, Chuah said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A trust \u201callows the grantor to have very specific directions about where this item is to go, in terms of the beneficiaries,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The more careful you are in estate planning, Chuah said, the more likely you can avoid disputes among loved ones after you die. And Chuah has seen his share of dustups, especially when it comes to jewelry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have seen families fight over a piece of jade,\u201d he said. \u2018\u201cMom promised it to me.\u2019 \u2018No, Mom promised it to me first.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your collection of baseball cards, Birkin handbags or aging Bordeaux may deliver hours of pleasure. It\u2019s also an…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":208134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[86130,86136,1037,111264,64,37402,114279,56580,114277,86131,111263,356,614,649,250,664,644,663,451,450,457,255,615,616,650,114276,114278,645,646,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-208133","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-antiques","9":"tag-antiques-u0026-collectibles","10":"tag-art","11":"tag-art-collecting","12":"tag-business","13":"tag-card","14":"tag-card-collecting","15":"tag-coin","16":"tag-coin-collecting","17":"tag-collectibles","18":"tag-collecting","19":"tag-courts","20":"tag-estate","21":"tag-estate-planning","22":"tag-inheritance","23":"tag-inheritance-u0026-estate-planning","24":"tag-modular","25":"tag-modular-story","26":"tag-negative","27":"tag-overall","28":"tag-overall-negative","29":"tag-personal-finance","30":"tag-planning","31":"tag-probate","32":"tag-probate-courts","33":"tag-stamp","34":"tag-stamp-collecting","35":"tag-story","36":"tag-u0026","37":"tag-united-states","38":"tag-unitedstates","39":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115164166475368828","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}