Estate planning is a way for you to decide in advance what you want to happen with your assets after you pass away. You may own homes and real estate, significant financial assets or even your own business. It is important to determine how you want these types of things to be divided among adult children or other beneficiaries.
But one thing to keep in mind is that you need to consider items that only have sentimental value. People often focus on assets with high financial value, and that is a logical place to start. However, many conflicts and disputes between beneficiaries actually revolve around family heirlooms and other such items that may not have much financial value, but that have significant sentimental value to those beneficiaries.
Why these disputes are harder to resolve
In some senses, a dispute over family heirlooms is more difficult to resolve than one over significant financial assets. For one thing, the beneficiaries are not interested in the value of those assets. If they are just trying to split up valuable real estate, they could sell it and divide the money from the sale. But beneficiaries fight over sentimental items because of their connection to their parents, their childhood and the memories and emotions that go along with them.
Additionally, it is often very hard to divide these assets. Beneficiaries could theoretically own a vacation home jointly, but the same cannot be said for things like a book collection or artwork from their childhood home. Inevitably, at least one beneficiary is going to feel like they did not get the asset that they really wanted, and that can lead to disputes and conflicts.
Careful planning can help to avoid some of these disputes, so be sure you know what steps to take to incorporate sentimental items into your estate plan.