$110,000.00 Treasure found in Local Garage – And why you should fill out your Specific Bequest Forms!

Use Specific Bequests to keep your valuables and heirlooms in the Family!

During trust signings we try to stress the importance of filling out the Specific Bequest pages. These pages should be used to leave important, specific items to your heirs. For example, if you want to leave your classic car to your grandson it’s important to list that on the Specific Bequest page, otherwise known as Schedule D.

This page can also be used to leave money to people. We’ve had clients leave money to whomever serves as Successor Trustee as compensation for time and expenses. We’ve had clients leave $1,000.00 to each of their grandchildren. We’ve had clients leave money to their siblings, best friends, neighbors, Alma Mater, church, or even favorite charities. This can be done by simply writing, “I hereby bequest a cash sum of . . . to my favorite nephew John Smith” and signing and dating the entry.

Another way we stress using the Specific Bequest page though is to detail how you would like valuable items in your estate handled. If you don’t specify how you’d like your estate handled then your Successor Trustee will simply sell everything off, cash it out, and distribute it to the beneficiaries. In some cases this is fine; in other cases you might not want family heirlooms sold off, donated to Goodwill, or cashed out and split up. Many times family heirlooms need to be left to certain heirs to keep them in the family and avoid family disputes.

If you have valuable items you should detail on your Specific Bequest page how you would like your Successor Trustee to handle those items. I’ve had clients with Egyptian artifacts, vases from ancient Israel, sports memorabilia, guns from the Civil War, grandfather clocks from Europe, 5,000 vinyl records or important collectibles that simply cannot be put in the front yard in an Estate Sale or put out to be picked up by Goodwill or a local thrift shop. I’ve also seen heirs fight over who gets mom’s jewelry, dad’s golf clubs, or grand-mom’s china collection.

Don’t let your valuables get dumped!

I ask my clients, “If something happened to you today, what would happen to your valuables? Things you’ve collected your entire life? Heirlooms that have been in your family for generations?” Important decisions need to be made as to how this items will be dispersed after you’ve passed.

Recently, a Sun City resident called a consignment shop for help cleaning out a friend’s house. The friend had dementia and no heirs so the friend had Power of Attorney. Upon inspection, the owner of the consignment shop noticed an authentic Kenneth Noland  painting in the garage. It was sold at auction for $110,000.00!

Since the owner has dementia, details of how the painting got to Sun City are unknown. There were also no instructions of how to handle the authentic Kenneth Noland  painting. Had the consignment owner not also been an art appraiser, this piece could have been sold at an yard sale or given to a thrift shop.

Read the complete article on azcentral.com  here:

How one painting in a garage realized $110,000

Don’t let your collectibles and Heirlooms end up in a yard sale!

Don’t let your treasures end up in your garage with no instructions as to how they should be handled or who they should be left to. It’s important to set this up before something happens to you. At Signature Documents  we handle specific bequest requests daily and can help you too! Contact us today at  623-974-2272  to make an appointment before something happens to your valuable heirlooms!

The post $110,000.00 Treasure found in Local Garage – And why you should fill out your Specific Bequest Forms! appeared first on Kramer Legacy Documents, LLC.