Do you love reading and collecting books? Are you a rabid coin or stamp collector? Do you find peace and tranquility out tending your garden?

Whatever it is that you love to do in your “off time”, you can bet the people closest to you know it. These are the people who give you that antique seed cabinet that you would never buy for yourself; it’s the person who finds the Ted Williams baseball card for a steal at an estate sale and presents it to you for your birthday; or the friend who happily goes with you to the antique car show because he knows hobbies are better when you have someone to share them with. These are the friendships that last a lifetime, the people who sometimes seem to know you better than you know yourself; and yet oddly, these friendships are often forgotten when people create their wills and divvy up their estates.

Many people go to their estate planner with their descendents and their financial assets foremost in their minds, and that is as it should be; but your estate plan can be more than a just a way to distribute property to the next generation, it can also be an opportunity to say thank you to the people who have touched your life by sharing with them the accoutrements and paraphernalia of your hobbies and passions.

You can express how much you appreciate your best chess opponent by leaving her your favorite chess board; or you can encourage the interest of your young philatelist nephew by bequeathing to him your extensive stamp collection; all you need is an estate plan which includes some kind of personal property memorandum. A personal property memorandum is not a difficult legal document to create—in fact, it will often be a very informal document—but it does require some forethought to ensure that your formal will or trust recognizes and refers to the memorandum.

Our office can help you create an estate plan that not only ensures the protection of your heirs and property, it also helps you leave a meaningful ‘thank you’ to the people who matter most.

One of the questions we are often asked is if these personal items should be included in the will or trust or if there is an easier way to dispose of them. The answer is that although major items such as the crown jewels should be listed in your will or trust, smaller mementos such as a baseball card collection or grandma’s china (things that are not required to go through probate) can be listed on a much less intimidating document called a personal property memorandum.

A personal property memorandum is a written statement which lists your various tangible personal items along with the people who should receive these items upon your death. (Tangible personal items do NOT include bank accounts, stocks, money, securities, or trade or business properties.) The nice thing about the personal property memorandum is that you can edit and update it yourself, whereas any changes to a will or a trust should be made by a qualified attorney. You must, however, be sure that your will or trust refers to your personal property memorandum if you have one, to ensure that there is no confusion about distribution of property.

A personal property memorandum can be typed up, handwritten, or can be a standard template that you get from your attorney to fill out at home—so long as it clearly expresses your wishes and is signed and dated. It is best to store your personal property memorandum in a safe place with the rest of your estate planning documents; but if you find yourself making frequent changes to the document it can be kept at home, so long as your trustees or executor know where to find it if something happens to you.

For more information about how to leave personal property to your heirs please contact our office.