Informative Masterclass
How to Protect your Family’s Assets and Leave a Lasting Legacy
Save Your Spot Now!

White Plains & New City, New York Estate Planning & Elder Law Firm

What Should I Do with My Valuable Beanie Baby Collection?

April 3, 2021
David Parker, Esq.
New IRS portability rules
David Parker, White Plains and New City NY Estate Planning Attorney
David Parker, Esq.
David Parker is an attorney who specializes in Estate Planning and Elder Law and has been practicing law for 30 years. Be it Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney, Health Care Proxies, or Medicaid Planning, David provides comprehensive and caring counsel for seniors and their families. A large portion of David’s practice is asset protection strategies so that families do not lose their hard earned savings to nursing home care costs. He also handles probate administration for the settlement of estates.
COVID-19 has altered how we spend our time. Most forms of socialization were scaled back or continued virtually. The forced isolation reignited a passion for hobbies and collecting.

Learning a foreign language, making wine and crafting are popular stay-at-home activities, there’s a new trend: childhood collections of Beanie Baby, baseball cards, comic books, video games, sneakers, model trains, and Barbie dolls are being uncovered and re-examined.

The Wealth Advisor’s recent article entitled “Estate Planning for Your Collections May Be a Smart Decision to Make” explains that the legacy we leave isn’t always a lot of money or real estate. Artifacts and collections have a value that goes beyond dollars and cents. The importance of hobbies and collections in a person’s estate plan should be noted.

A collector should catalog their collection because an heir might have no idea what he’s holding. Is it a three-buck toy from the local department store or is it a Devi Kroell Barbie from 2010 that sells now for at least $1,100?

One way to start a catalog is to take photos on a smart phone and save them in a shared file called “My Collectible Beanie Baby.”

Next, get an idea what your collection is worth. You can get some idea by looking at prices for similar items on eBay prices. You also should be aware of the “grade” of your pieces. Is your Beanie Baby still in its original packaging in pristine condition, or has your niece chewed on it for a few years as a baby? Of course, the condition makes a huge difference in the price.

You can gift a collection to a trust through a gift memorandum and specifically listed it on a trust’s Schedule A. If the collectible has its own title, like your 1954 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible, the title can be transferred to the trust. When it’s part of a trust, a collectible can be distributed or maintained the way other trust assets are governed.

Trusts avoid probate and let a collector have more flexibility to control how her collection is handled, appreciated and sold.

Without a specific bequest in a last will, something like a Beanie Baby collection worth thousands of dollars may only be mentioned as “personal property” in a catch-all category for non-financial accounts or real estate belonging to the decedent. As a result, it’s lumped in with clothing, furniture and household items. An executor who is unfamiliar with Beanie Babies or Barbies may not know enough to maximize the collection’s value.

Some collectors dispose of an unwanted collection while they’re still alive. That is because the owner is the one who understands the market for the collectibles. Obtaining the best prices and letting your heirs  use the windfall for their individual plans may be a win-win.

Reference: The Wealth Advisor (Feb. 2, 2021) “Estate Planning for Your Collections May Be a Smart Decision to Make”

]

Share This Post
Stay Informed
Subscribe To Our FREE Estate Planning, Probate and Elder Law Newsletter

Book Your Free Initial Consultation With Parker Law Firm Today
Get Started Now

The 15 minute initial phone call is designed as a simple way for you to get to know us, and for our team to learn more about your unique estate planning needs.

Book an Initial Call
Book A Call With Parker Law Firm
Parker Law Firm
White Plains Location

222 Bloomingdale Rd #301,
White Plains, NY 10605

New City Location

120 North Main Street, Suite 203,
New City, NY 10956

IMS - Estate Planning and Elder Law Practice Growth Advisors
Powered by
crosscross-circle