WHAT TO DO WITH ALL YOUR STUFF!

By Taylor Kenck

This post is Part Eight of our “Estate Planning Basics” series.

Proper estate planning takes into consideration divisions of all the “stuff” we collect over the years. A flexible approach often is best because it can change as your needs change in the future.

Introduction

If you are anything like me, you look around your house and think “I have too much STUFF!” Between furniture, clothes, decorations, art, books, heirlooms, kitchenware, tools, toys, (and I could go on ad nauseam) we all tend to collect more than we need. 

Many of my clients get overwhelmed thinking of how to distribute their stuff. They wonder if any of their children or grandchildren will even want their personal items. They also wonder about who will make the decisions that distribute it all. Most of all, they worry about fairness–how do you fairly divide personal items, many of which have no real value outside of the family?

Thankfully, there are many ways to relieve these concerns. Crestview Law can help craft a plan that addresses these concerns in as much or as little detail as the client desires. 

Primer on “Tangible Personal Property”

Clients’ eyes naturally glaze over a bit when I start talking about “tangible personal property.” So, I find it is important to define it very early in our planning process. 

To break the idea down better, I like to categorize all the assets and property that make up a typical estate: First, we have real property: houses, commercial buildings, and even raw land. Second, we have money, be it in whatever form that it may be–including bank accounts, investment portfolios, pensions, 401ks, bonds, stocks, crypto, etc. 

After this, all that is left is usually “tangible personal property.” It is your physical assets (that are not real estate or attached to the ground), as opposed to financial assets like money. The Revised Code of Washington (“RCW”) defines tangible personal property as: 

"[T]angible personal property" means articles of personal or household use or ornament, for example, furniture, furnishings, automobiles, boats, airplanes, and jewelry, as well as precious metals in any tangible form, for example, bullion or coins. The term includes articles even if held for investment purposes and encompasses tangible property that is not real property. 

Basically, tangible personal property includes all the stuff in and around your house (including vehicles). 

Now that we have identified what tangible personal property is, let’s discuss how to resolve the frequent concerns. 

Handling Divisions

For the most part, your tangible personal property can be distributed and divided however you would like. However, there are obvious logistical issues that have led to a few common solutions. 

Historically, it was very common for people to give specific gifts of items in their wills–think family heirlooms like a piano, or grandpa’s hotrod. The problem with this approach is that very often, those things are passed on earlier. The piano will be given to a child when their kids start taking lessons, for example. This approach also doesn’t anticipate that sometimes, circumstances change: maybe that hotrod was more of a bucket of rust, and grandpa just decided to sell it off. 

As an attorney, I have reviewed many wills with specific gifts like this only to have the clients say “well that item is long gone!” These “missing items” can create problems down the road if not addressed–hurt feelings and even challenges for more of the estate can result. This is why I do not like the historical approach that lists specific gifts in the will itself. 

Personally, I prefer a more flexible approach. I most often give clients what I call a “tangible personal property memorandum” in conjunction with their will or trust. It is a formal looking document with lots of blank spaces, and clients leave my office and fill in the spaces as they see fit. When circumstances change, the lines can be crossed out, and additional details can be added below. RCW 11.12.260 specifically allows tangible items to be disposed of in a separate writing from the will or trust. Thus, the flexible approach is recognized under the law as well.

At the end of the day, clients can be as specific as they would like with their stuff. It will, however, be in the personal representative’s hands to carry those wishes out. If the wishes are vague, your personal representative will need to exercise discretion and tact to ensure fair divisions, according to the estate planning document. I find it is best to be realistic about your loved ones’ needs and desires: some family members will naturally want more than others, so an idealistic approach (like valuing equal divisions over all else) might not accurately reflect the actual division. 

In fact, for many families, even after everyone has taken the things that they want from their loved one that has passed on, there is often a lot of stuff still left over. These items often become part of an estate sale or even donations to Goodwill and Salvation Army. 

Conclusion

The things that fill your life often have significant value to you and your family. Planning a way to divide these special items after your passing is a crucial step for many estate plans. At Crestview Law, I prefer a more flexible approach that allows clients to make changes if their circumstances change down the road. 

Please contact Crestview Law or click here to schedule a free initial consultation to find out more. 

Crestview Law is located in Wenatchee, but we can serve clients throughout Washington with our many virtual tools.