Some people will leave sentimental items out of their will. These are items where the emotional value is greater than the financial value. For example, these could include book collections, trinkets from around the house, home furnishings, artwork and other things of this nature. They may not be very valuable, technically speaking, but they’re important to adult children because they remind them of their parents.
One reason that people will leave these out of their will is that they don’t have much financial value, as noted above. They’ll focus their will on things that are very expensive, like a family home, a car, a vacation property or a small business.
The second reason is that they may assume that their beneficiaries can just sort things out on their own. The parents may not know which items have a sentimental connection to which children. But they assume that the siblings can talk about it and divide things as they see fit.
Why this is a mistake
But in many ways, it’s actually better to mention items with sentimental value in your will, along with things that have substantial financial value.
The issue with leaving sentimental items out is that it can lead to some complicated estate disputes. The beneficiaries may all want the same item. This is impossible, of course, so they are unsure how to proceed. If they were just interested in the financial value, they could sell the item and split up the money. But they can’t even do that because the item has little value – and they only want it because of the sentimental connection anyway.
In many ways, addressing these issues in advance can help to prevent disputes. This is wise to consider when making an estate plan and looking into all of your legal options.
