Inheritance - splitting up your collection in your will
 

I am 48 and have a 6 year old and 5 year old. Probably should have done this 10 years prior (have kids, that is), but that’s a story for another day.

I’m currently working on: T206 (approaching 300 cards), C46, 1950 Bowman. The C46s and Bowmans are taking a back seat as I focus on the remaining 220+ cards in T206. I do have some other cool cards that I collected in the 80s. Mostly 50s Topps. I also have a coin collection that I’ve long neglected and may start up again when the T206 is complete. So, if I get to 80 years old, I [i]should[/] have the set close to completion. I may have all the US cents from the 1790s through present day. Quite a few Morgan’s.

I’ve been showing the kids the cards, sometimes they are interested, sometimes they aren’t. What have you guys done? Jay’s estimate of the T206 set at 520 cards of $70k sounds right. I gather the fairest thing would be: 1 child gets the T206 and the other gets the rest including the coins.

Of course, you never know when your time is up so 32 years may be less than that. (Jeez, I sure hope not. And, jeez, I wish I had kids in my 30s so I could see them and their children.) What have you guys done in regards to splitting up sets?

Play it safe and go to your favorite auction house and get a deal all set up for your kids. Then just spell out what percentage of the auction proceeds go to each kid. If they want to keep some of the collection, then name an appraiser to use at that time. Having a third party involved should eliminate any bickering amongst family members.

A 43 year old here that ended up having lovely boys that are only 2 years old and 2 months old. You are not alone.

My collection is an asset of my trust which my kids get 50/50 when I'm gone. It's up to them if they want to keep all or just one card each and sell the rest. If one wants to keep the entire collection then they would have to buy the others half. I'll be gone so they can do with it what they want.

You can start a family limited liability company: let’s call it T206 LLC. The company would own all of your collection, while you would own 49%, your wife would own 49%, and each of your children would own 1% of T206 LLC.

You could, at your discretion, give them an increasing share of your collection over time. A good tax accountant or lawyer could help you with the estate planning implications of this strategy. I mention it because it gives you more flexibility than one child gets Wagner and the other Plank.

Record-keeping for a family LLC is not a negligible task, but if your collection is valuable enough, it is an option worth considering.

My honest opinion as a person who loves cards is that no one will want your cards. Sell your collection when you feel like you've enjoyed it long enough and put that money aside evenly.

This. My grandfather, a rare first edition science fiction collector/dealer, recently passed away. While we all appreciate and admire his huge collection, it’s an absolute albatross around our necks to deal with. There’s no way we will ever have the knowledge or backstory around most of it, and that makes valuation tricky. When you add the bookkeeping and accounting time required, it’s far more generous to liquidate yourself if possible. His situation really opened my eyes to how I want to position my own collection for my kids as time goes by.

Just keep in mind the tax implications of selling it yourself vs. the stepped up tax basis that your heirs would benefit from if you leave the collection to them. You should at least be aware of this consideration. Others who know more about tax law and the tax code can provide more info.

Hi,

A lot depends on your kids and as they grow up and share your interest and collection.
My son unfortunately does not enjoy the card collection as I do.
If the kids have no interest
3. options.

1. Liquidate prior to passing and put towards your estate to split.
2. Donate to the net54forum leave to Leon and it will distribute thru his many contests like guys the combined price on a couple of eBay items.
3. Adopt me and leave it to me since we share the same interest

:D:D:D:D

My mother is a collector. She has hundreds of pieces of milk glass and brass, some Hummel, and some oak furniture. My dad has art work. My sister's and I don't have careers as successful as my father. Smaller homes, different priorities. We are going to have to liquidate most of it after we cherry pick items not outlined in the will. Luckily I know enough about collecting to make sure we can maximize our value, but it will be a big challenge and time consuming. Currently with the age of your kids it's tough to tell what careers they end up with, size of their home, priorities once they are married and have kids.

At this stage, I would set aside a small group of items for each kid - a couple cards, a couple coins, some jewelry, some other items you haven't mentioned here- and make plans to sell the rest and divide the funds.

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Inheritances want cash not cards.

Sad but True :(

Don't assume the kids and grandkids will have your same interests.

My dad was a chemical engineering professor. He said he went into the field because of having an older brother who was an engineer (mechanical) and a high school chemistry professor was good. He said his field choice was a matter of happenstance and he wasn't about to be one of those parents who required a major of his kids.

However, one or both of your kids may be interested in your collecting area. That happens too. They're young and you will find out.

There was a big home furnishing store owner in my hometown. He said he went into the field after selling a relative's stuff after his death, and discovered how much he enjoyed it. You don't know how things will work, and neither did he.

I know that my younger son would love my collection.

The older son, I'm not so sure.

Biggest recommendation is just to have a will outlining what you want. I can't tell you how many horror stories I have heard over the years on collectors who didn't have a will.

I happen to be an Estate lawyer. (Please note this is not legal advice, and I do not know the laws in your particular jurisdiction, I'm just trying to be helpful).

My advice would be to leave instructions to have you collection appraised at the time you die. Make sure you direct your executor(s) to an appropriate appraiser. Having uneducated family members walking your collection into the local pawn shop is a recipe for disaster.

Once the appraiser puts a value on your cards, your beneficiaries can decide what, if anything, they want from your collection, and the value of those cards/coins they take can be deducted from their share of your estate. Anything they don't want they can sell (again, you should provide direction as to who would be a reputable seller to avoid being scammed).

How about seeking the advice of a certified, professional estate planner?

Unless you're the pawn shop owner...

I've always tried to look at my collection very realistically. I enjoy collecting and this is MY hobby, and I don't expect anyone else in my family to appreciate it as I do. If I croaked tomorrow my wife has detailed instructions on where and how to squeeze every last dime out of my collection, and I wouldn't care if she consigned/sold it the very next day. My collection means something to me, but I don't expect anyone else to be sentimental about it because at the end of the day it's just a hobby and just stuff.
If I'm lucky enough to live a long life I also have an age/time in mind where I'll start selling and take the bulk of what I have off the table. This would be to reduce the burden of selling after I'm gone, but I'm sure I'll always collect something as long as I'm alive.

Nobody will want the cards. Don't even think of your collection in terms of it remaining together for any amount of time after you die. If you don't sell your collection first, you will be doing a disservice to your heirs, who will certainly never take the time to know anything about it. It will be pieced out incorrectly and no matter what instructions you leave behind no one will take the time to follow them after your death.

I’m 58 and have been collecting fairly consistently for 50 years. I recently updated my will to include my baseball toys. I have four adult kids. Although they have humored me over the years, none of them have ever really expressed an interest in my collection. I decided to have each of them identify an item from my collection that they wanted. We will sell the rest when I’m 70 and use those funds for a family vacation. When I told them what I was doing they found it to be rather macabre. Nonetheless, their choices were interesting as they didn’t make their choices based on value. In fact some of the more valuable items were left on the table so to speak. Instead they made their selections based on sentiment. When I asked why they made their selections each one of them recounted and linked the item to a memory of me. I was surprised how much they had actually paid attention to my rambling over the years. I have great kids who have pretty good taste.

I'm going through something similar right now as my dad has stage 4 kidney cancer. He and I have very different hobbies, so he knows there are one or two items my sister and I each want, but as for the rest, it would best be either donated to charity or sold to someone who will appreciate them more.

Or, you could just take it with you.

Sick. Very sick

But nice

Sorry to hear that Scott. Lost my mom to pancreatic cancer and one of my aunts was just diagnosed with it as well.

The plan is to have a good hobby friend help my family auction off my collection then split whatever the funds they bring.

If my blessings continue, here's my thumbnail.

1) work until I'm 70...I'm 60 now and love my career.

2) From 70-75 focus on selling my collection through a combination of direct sales, auction houses etc. Then kick back.

3) I'll probably keep the 1970s cards because they are not a huge percentage of the value and are what I collected as a kid. This would allow me to continue to putz around and go to cards shows to pick up regionals and test issues that fit the profile. It is also a well defined chunk I can sell at some point in the future and my family can sell if I am not around.

4) Pick one nice card for each of my two kids to keep to remember me by...probably $500-$1000 cards...something that the kids would associate with me but also have meaning to them.

5) I don't know what I'll do with the money. I am somewhere between saving it (because that's what I've always done), buying a property at the beach if it is close to that amount, or making a significant contribution to our local free clinic to expand their services.

6) If health becomes an issue, I'll probably call one of my friends who owns an auction house and work something out. I don't have a collection to rival a lot of you guys, but it would be good enough to keep an auction house or two fairly busy.

7) I have said this many times before, so please be patient with me if it's a repeat. I love my kids more than life itself, but I would never give them my collection, no matter how interested they would appear to be. I believe the real value of the collection is in the pursuit of the items in your collection and the friends you make along the way. How could I rob them of that?

or screw it and throw your items in a time capsule/safe and hide it in a wall in the attic for a future 'attic find".

tho, in my situation as newly diagnosed with bladder cancer-- probably best to liquidate.
and in best to have documentation of inventory, bought and prices available.
AH to use to consign to and websites like Net54 to use.

Todd's #7 has quite a bit of merit.


Is half of a collection a collection? Or a third (if you have 3 kids)? If you split a collection 3 ways, and then the next generation has it all going to one descendant, is that 3 collections combined, or one collection reassembled??

It's in the locating and accumulating, the stories, the hunt. Who is the collector, the someone who buys 520 white border cards, or someone that gradually and eventually tracks down and acquires those 520?

If you're not crazy wealthy and get alzheimers, it will all have to be sold to cover your long term care.

Leaving cards to your heirs can be quite the headache for them. One option as suggested is to sell off a large portion of your stuff once you hit 70. This has some merits, but what if I live to 95? I enjoy my collection, it is not an investment, so I will not sell off the majority of my stuff. I will pare down a bit :-) I think the thing to do is have everything organized and documented. Physically, the bulk of my stuff (67-77 BB/FB/Hcky vg/ex), from my childhood is not worth too much. However, mixed in with those albums are some pre-war sets and cards with a bit more value. I am documenting everything and putting together a list of dealers/auction houses and friends that my heirs can talk with. I plan to visit a couple of dealers I know at the next major show and get their advice. Once I have everything documented and organized, with a checklist for my heir(s) to follow I will feel a lot better.

I have debated reviewing things with the person I plan to leave the card with, but what if things change? I'm only 59, I could change who I leave things too. I will likely document and review things to the executors of my will.

I really like the idea of hiding some of my stuff in the house somewhere, like a time capsule. My wife (younger than me) and my daughter (also younger than me) know about my cards, balls, scrapbooks, etc., and know they are worth some money. They don't like it like I do, but they get it. If I croak, they know what to do. But if I hid some stuff up in the attic, to be found in the distant future, how cool is that? My luck, a hurricane would take the roof off, and shred my beloved cards!

My daughter already told me she is not interested in anything other than the collection of materials I've amassed related to our pro fighter cousins Ray Miller and Bennie Berris.

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...0cover.bmp.jpg
https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...ize/Benny3.jpg

I am leaving it all to her anyway and she can do with it as she pleases. She can sell it for a mint, either gold or chocolate depending on how things go.

First, I hope this is not something specific to Steve or his family since it is a very precise example. I would generalize it and say that if you do not have enough insurance or other funds to cover a major unexpected expense, or even normal expenses after retirement, you may need to sell some or all of your collection to do so. For better or worse, I have a feeling many people consider their collection part of their retirement planning.

My will is probably not specific enough. It basically says that my children should divide my collection as they may agree on and in absence of such agreement the Executor should divide it in shares as equal in value as practicable. But none of the parties involved are experts in collectibles. And who wants to spend time looking up prices of their dead dad's cards? So while they may want to keep a few items for sentimental or other reasons (my daughter is a big fan of the older photographic material, like cabinets and cdvs) there is no reason they should keep the collection intact.

I should probably put a sticky note on the will saying "What I mean is, keep what you want then call [insert your favorite auction house] and have them sell everything else and split the proceeds."

my opinion would be to start liquidating your collection and put the money in a trust fund

admirable thread
 

It's very thoughtful and decent of all of you to sell your collections as you grow old or to organize things for the estate sale. My late father had large accumulations of coins, stamps, among other things, and he didn't prepare for his passing at all, even though he lived into his early 90's. To my surprise, I didn't mind going through his collections, his tools, his investments, his piles of junk. I am probably a rare case: it helped me deal with his death. I won't expect my heirs to welcome a similarly disorganized inheritance from me---but I expect I'll leave them to do a little bit of sorting out, just in case.

My collection will stay intact and with me until the end. Non-Negotiable..

Totally understand the thought process about half a collection, or 1/3 of a collection.

My dad has a small collection of watches, only one of which I particularly want, and none of them are rare. He told me they are mine after he dies, my mom's jewelry will go to my sisters. The watch I want was Great Uncle Bill's watch that he used for surveying military air strips around the world. He left two with my uncle. One christmas I asked my uncle if he would donate one that my siblings and I could clean up and give to my dad. He said yes. Well my dad got sick and he has started to plan his estate. I was frank with him one day and said if he wanted any watches to go to grandkids he needed to tell me now or I would keep his watches together as a collection.... because I love collections, not pieces. Even though I only have sentimental feelings for just one watch, I know that my desire to show off a collection of watches would be too great to split them up. Maybe at some point I'd be willing to piece them out to nephews, but not immediately after his death.

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Been through it twice, memory units are very expensive, and long term insurance may not kick in right away. Inheriting anything with a value that isn't nearly zero is not happening without a lot of planning and foresight. That pesky time limit on gifts before you spend down to the nearly destitute you have to be to get any of it covered under Medicare. And what they cover buys you a bed in a warehouse to put it bluntly.

My kids are just starting to show any real interest in collectibles, but I'm also an older parent. I'm considering gifting them some of the better items long before it becomes an issue. I just have to find someone who can show me a way where it's somewhat flexible in the event their interests change.

Never easy conversation.
But make a will now and then update later so you have a will in the event something happens.
In the now will plan for it to be sold and the steps on the where and the how.
The later will is as your kids get older see if they have and interest or not in your collection and then take some of the recommendations others mentioned above if not interested.
They are so young and I would not want to sell before I see what their interest are or are not.
But be covered either way

I am going through a bit of this right now. My dad is very unhealthy and probably doesn't have a lot of time left. He is a contract hay farmer. He doesn't have land, but he has a ton of big iron (tractors, bailers, etc.). All told, and sold at the right price to the right outlet, it has a value in the 400-600k range - even adjusted for wholesale.

About three years ago when his health started failing, I spoke with him about liquidating. He said that if he sold, he would just be sitting in his chair waiting to die - so he didn't sell.

Now, the inevitable is going to happen soon. I will have to figure out inventory and become a tractor salesman. I live in western PA, he lives in a very rural county of Washington state - 5 hours to fly to and another 90 minute drive.

I have a family and a pretty demanding job so I am not sure how my brother and I are going to liquidate his estate without spending a lot more time there than I (or my wife) would like. It is not going to be fun. I actually need to find a service where they do this sort of thing and take a piece of it. Even a big piece of it is worth not giving 6 months of my life away to sell everything.

It has really taught me a lesson and I will probably target 70 years old as the time to start liquidating. My daughter has made it clear that she likes the TV cards (55 Bowman) and the ones that look like wood (62 Topps). My oldest has said that he wants everything else, but he is probably humoring me. So, we will have additional discussions. What I won't do is tell them that if I sell it that I am just waiting to die and then hold on and let them deal with it and get 10 cents on the dollar of what is fair and reasonable.

Did he have a "best employee" who could take it over either all of it or part of it to go on his own?

That might be a workable plan.

Todd, your whole post is very thoughtful. I think about it much the same way, though I will probably start selling much earlier than 70 and just focus on one niche after that (as you suggest re 70s cards).

But I just wanted to bring up your Point 7 again. It is really well said!

It is a good point, my wife says I like the chase better than the owning even though I seldom sell stuff.

A couple of my collections are really specialized, and if they're interested, some of the stuff won't be findable or affordable later on.
One of the stamps is the only one seen since probably the early 1930's, (Super specialized variety of a common one) My oldest has already ordered me to never sell it. There are still gaps in most of the specialized collections, so plenty still to chase. :) Having a second generation to maybe "complete" the collection might be cool. (a couple of the items are ones where I have a copy of a variety but need to find a second one to confirm it- more stuff listed and cataloged back in the 30's when they weren't allowed to show a picture.

What do you expect to happen to your collection when you pass on? Have you outline any special plans?

Long term care is crazy-expensive. This last year I've had to deal with it for both parents. Memory care (dementia) will run anywhere from $8,000 a month on up. Skilled nursing (basically for bedridden and completely gonzo mentalities) is even more.

The insurance helps but it won't cover everything. And the waiting period and claims processing can be brutal. Even the best policies have a 30-day deductible and don't start processing payments for 90 days after the start of care, so you are looking at paying OOP for at least three months before the insurer turns on the spigot. I basically had to liquidate my parents' assets to make sure they were covered for the longer term, even with both having long term care insurance.

I just got my long term care insurance coverage approved. All I can say about that is look into a policy while you are relatively young (age 45 is a good time) and do not skimp on the inflation rider. Most policies offer 0%-3%-5% options. In researching facilities for my parents I found that the average cost increase is 4% or more per year. You really have to opt for the 5% to keep up with costs.

Sorry to hear about this, Chris. Hopefully, it's treatable, and you still have a long life ahead of you.

I think Todd's plan is very reasonable and makes a lot of sense. I'm still thinking of #7. It's basically impossible that I'd be able to complete my collecting goals in my lifetime, so it'd be nice if one of my kids tries to continue it. However, as so far, no one is interested in cards at all, it's very doubtful. I still have a two year old that I'm still hoping may catch the collecting bug when he gets older. :p

Otherwise, I plan to keep my main collection until the end. I'll definitely try to whittle it down before then. For example, I'll try to get rid of my 60s to 90s set runs. I want to have something manageable for my heirs to sell, like a large bookshelf full of cards rather than a roomful. Then I'll have an instruction sheet for my wife and kids to use on how to sell the cards. It'll basically say which auction houses to use, sell the collection over multiple auctions, and what BP, etc to expect when selling.

Not sure if there are any tax advantages of selling early or having the collection sold at death via a will or passing along the collection to the kids evenly and having them sell later. I assume it'll depend on the total value of the estate, but passing it along at death, you may be able to use the total lifetime gift tax exclusion, and the kids can then use the step up basis of the value of the cards when they receive it, and then sell it later with less capital gains.

We have a couple of options like that. We are also looking at things like Richie Brothers and Big Iron. The net of it that he understands the market much better and could get far better value. Per the point above, we are very close to the long term terminal care. We need to execute the DPOA and begin the process of liquidating all of the assets - especially if we are looking at 8k per month in long term care. He will not like it as he has some decent days (maybe 1 day every 3 weeks - the rest of the time he is pretty much bedridden).

It has really given me a lesson on what I will eventually need to do to make things easier on my family. These next few months are not going to be fun.

Praying and hoping for the best for you and your family.

Maybe hire an estate attorney? They can handle everything for you.

IM 58 and have a boy with a driving permit. He says he likes my collection but I can tell he wants to make me happy. So we came up with the idea that because of my age I will probably not know my grandchildren as adults so I would like to give my 5 best to him for his kids with a note from me to them to pass along this cards from grandpa John to as many generations as possible. I will sell the rest of my collection for my kid to put a down payment on a house when he’s ready.