Four Steps to Take Right After an Alzheimer's Diagnosis
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, it is important to start planning immediately.
Read moreUnlike money, personal belongings usually cannot be divided equally after their owner passes away. For this reason, distributing possessions like furniture, jewelry, dishes, silverware, artwork, photographs or clothing is often the most difficult challenge in settling an estate. (Just ask Audrey Hepburn's two sons.)
It can help if the deceased person had stated in her will or in a separate memorandum who should receive what. In many states, reference within a will to such a separate document over what is technically called "tangible personal property" makes the list binding. The list can be updated without changing the will, although it's a good idea to check with your lawyer when making changes to the list.
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Often items of little monetary value have great emotional significance. This can make distribution difficult when more than one person feels attached to a particular item. The process can also become the venue for playing out old family insecurities and grievances. Everyone may revert to the relationships they had as teenagers.
That said, most families are able to work out the distribution of personal belongings that have not been directed by the decedent in a fair way. Here are a few methods:
In many cases, families use a combination of these methods to come up with a fair system of distribution. Sometimes, however, people’s schedules get in the way of everyone meeting in one place to make distributions or the process gets dragged out for other reasons.
The University of Minnesota Extension School has developed useful materials to help families resolve issues around distribution of personal possessions called Who Will Get Grandma's Yellow Pie Plate? which is available both online and in a workbook format. It is a great place to start both for parents planning the distribution of their estate and for executors figuring out what to do after the fact.
For a Consumer Reports article on "How to spare your heirs a battle over your estate," click here.
Talk to your elder law attorney about how to avoid family strife over the distribution of personal possessions.
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, it is important to start planning immediately.
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