When creating an estate plan people will often put a lot of time and energy in planning for big assets, like cash, homes, and securities. One important thing that often gets overlooked is planning for those personal items that have little monetary value but a great amount of sentimental value. Dividing up these personal sentimental items can often cause a great amount of friction in families. It is important to include a system for dividing these personal items up in any estate plan. This article discusses some of the different options that are available for people who want to plan ahead for dividing these sorts of items. Putting a good and fair system in place can help prevent bitter disputes between siblings and other family members from happening.
See Paul Sullivan, When Dividing Assets, the Little Things Matter, The New York Times, April 15, 2016.
Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.
