Your estate plan may be the best way to preserve a collection that took a lifetime to complete.
Children often do not share the passions and interests of their parents. This can create a problem for those collectors who fear their collection will be forgotten and broken up after they pass away, according to Barron’s in “How to Get Your Child Interested in Your Collection.”
One thing that collectors can do is work to get their children interested in the collection.
It is best to start this when your children are young by including them in the collection process. However, if it is too late to do that, there are alternatives.
Parents can talk to their children in order to let them know why the collection is so important and what it would mean to the parent if the collection were to be sold out of the family. This helps give the children an emotional stake in preserving the collection.
If that does not work, then collectors do have some estate planning options about how their collections should be handled. For example, it might be possible to bequeath the entire collection to an interested museum or library.
An estate planning attorney can guide you in creating an estate plan that fits your unique circumstances and that may include protecting a special collection.
