If you have specific pieces of personal property, you can pass them down to your loved ones as a part of your broader estate plan. This is true even if these items mostly just have sentimental value instead of monetary value. A Rockland County estate planning attorney can help you make a plan that includes your personal property and makes it easier for you to leave your belongings with beneficiaries who will appreciate them.
How Can I Pass Down Personal Property?
Some assets are easy to pass on. You can add someone to a property deed or make someone a beneficiary of a bank account so that these assets can go to someone else when you die. What do you do with personal property though? There’s no deed to an art collection or piano.
You can still pass items like this down though. You just need to inventory everything and write down who gets what. A will can serve this purpose well or you can put your personal property in a trust. This makes it possible to name beneficiaries for all kinds of items. Whether you want to pass on video games, a collection of first-edition books, or anything else that you may have accumulated over the years, you can make sure that these things go to a loved one who would appreciate them.
Does a Trust Help My Personal Property Avoid Probate?
A will can work for these purposes, but you could also consider a trust. You can “fund” your trust with personal property, even when that property is not a large asset like a house. You can even put things in trusts that mostly just have sentimental value.
When you have a trust, you avoid the probate process. These are court proceedings that divide up your items when you pass away. This can take time and cost money, but it’s not necessary when you have a trust.
What Else Should I Do to Protect My Personal Property?
The important thing is to keep everything well-documented. Obviously, writing down who gets what is a necessity, but you should also photograph your items. This can reduce the chance that anyone could get confused and that conflicts over your estate and specific items might break out.
Do I Need an Estate Planning Attorney?
We do recommend talking to an estate planning attorney. Setting up a trust on your own isn’t advised. Even if you just plan to write a will, talking to our attorneys can be a good idea. We’ll make sure that your document is legally binding.
Contact Our Law Firm
If you don’t have an estate plan of your own, you should make one. Contact the Lauterbach Law Firm to learn more about how our experienced attorneys can help you with this. Estate planning isn’t just for the extremely wealthy. Protect your assets and make sure that you leave something behind for your loved ones.
