Lesson 3 – What happens to my stuff?

So you’ve written a will, that means you’re covered, right? Well, yes, but there are ways to make things simpler. As I’m dealing with Colorado law, I’m using that as a base. If you live in another state, check your local laws. (Seems odd to me that probate and marriage laws are state based, since they’re so common, but I digress.) In Colorado, you can designate any personal property to anyone you know, if you do so under some basic rules. (The gifts must be written in your own hand and a couple of other things.)

Why is this important? Well, any personal property you bequeath to a particular person goes to them outside of the remainder of the estate. Meaning, it’s not subject to being valued and sold for the estate. Want your grandmother’s prized stuffed buffalo head to go to your barber – done. So in the case of Jo Ann, she could have bequeathed items to her children, siblings, friends, gardeners, nail techs and hair dresser (I met them at the Memorial Service) – any one she wanted. And she could’ve saved Stan, Chris, Cindy and I a bunch of work.

Sadly, she didn’t. Does that mean that those items can’t be given to the heirs? No, but the value of those items is now deducted from the remainder portion of the estate that they will receive. And only the heirs have standing with the will, so unless they take (and give back that value to the remainder estate) and then re-gift a items to other folks, everyone else is out of luck.

Yes, it’s a pain to write out your wishes about items of your personal property. And in Colorado you have to be fairly detailed about the items, so the Personal Rep can figure out what the decedent meant. But, especially if you had a blended family with heirlooms from each side, it’s the cleanest way to make sure items get to the people you want to have them.

Little things can mean so much.