• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Parman & Easterday

Oklahoma Estate Planning Attorneys

Call Now: (405) 843-6100 |
(918) 615-2700

Attend an Education Program-Oklahoma City Area Attend An Education Program in the Tulsa Area
  • Home
  • Our Firm
    • About Our Firm
    • Attorney and Staff Profiles
    • What Our Clients Say
  • Estate Planning
    • Asset Protection
    • Business Succession Planning
    • Estate and Gift Tax Figures
    • Estate Planning Services
    • Family-Owned Businesses & Farms
    • Financial Planning Assistance
    • IRA and Retirement Planning
    • Legacy Planning
    • LGBTQ Estate Planning
    • Pet Planning
    • Powers of Attorney
    • Probate
    • SECURE Act
    • Special Needs Planning
    • Trust Administration and Probate
    • Young Families
  • Elder Law
    • Coping With Alzheimer’s
    • Elder Law
    • Emergency Medicaid
    • Guardianship & Conservatorship
    • Hospice Care
    • Medicaid Planning
    • Veteran’s Benefits
  • Resources
    • Asset Protection Worksheet
    • DocuBank
    • Elder Law
      • Elder Law & Medicaid Definitions
      • Elder Law Reports
      • Elder Law Resources
        • Edmond Elder Law
        • Oklahoma City Elder Law
        • Overland Park Elder Law
        • Yukon Elder Law
      • Medicaid
      • Nursing Home Resources
    • Estate Planning
      • An Overview of Estate and Gift Taxes
      • Estate Planning Checkup
      • Estate Planning Definitions
      • Estate Planning Reports
        • Advanced Estate Planning
        • Basic Estate Planning
        • Estate Planning for Niches
        • Trust Administration
      • Incapacity Planning Definitions
      • Is Your Estate Plan Outdated?
      • Top 10 Estate and Legacy Planning Techniques
    • Free Estate Planning Worksheet
    • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Alzheimer’s FAQs
      • Asset Protection Planning
      • Estate Planning
      • Elder Law
      • Frequently Asked Questions for Families Without an Estate Plan
      • Inheritance Planning for Minors
      • Legacy Wealth Planning
      • LGBTQ Estate Planning
      • Medicaid Planning
      • Nursing Home Asset Protection
      • Probate
      • Trust Administration
      • Trust Administration & Probate
      • Wills and Trusts
    • Newsletters
    • Probate and Trust Administration
      • Bereavement Resources
      • How to Know if You Need Extra Help With Your Grieving
      • Loss of a Loved One
      • Probate Checklist
      • The Mourner’s Bill of Rights
      • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Trust
      • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Will
      • Trust Administration & Probate Definitions
    • Probate Resources
      • Midwest City Probate
      • Moore Probate
      • Oklahoma City Probate
      • Overland Park Probate
    • Published Books
    • Pre Consultation Form
  • Communities We Serve
    • Edmond
    • Midwest City
    • Moore
    • Norman
    • Oklahoma City
    • Yukon
  • Reviews
    • Our Reviews
    • Review Us
  • BLOG
  • Contact Us
Home » Estate Planning » What to do About Sentimental Property in Your Estate Plan

What to do About Sentimental Property in Your Estate Plan

February 18, 2016 by Larry Parman, Attorney at Law

1110

Sentimental property can be difficult to deal with when creating an estate plan. Many people find it much easier to distribute their highly valuable property than they do their items with sentimental value. How do you deal with such property when creating your inheritance or estate plan? Today we are going to take a look at several options you can consider that might help you determine how best to distribute sentimentally valuable property.

Sentimental Property Lists

It’s typically best to begin any inheritance plan by developing a list of all the property you own. This list should not only include your most valuable assets, such as investments or real estate, but it should also keep track of personal and sentimentally valuable property. If you have personal property that is not sentimentally valuable and which does not have a high dollar value, there is typically no need to keep track of such individual items.  But a BIG caution: in our experience children often fight most about the least valuable asset because it has a high sentimental value. If there is as asset that has some emotional or sentimental attachment to one of your children, it should be discussed as early as possible.  After a decision is made, use a personal property memorandum or other document contained within your estate plan to indicate how the asset is to be distributed after you die.

Tales of Sentimental Property

Many of the sentimental items we own have personal stories or family histories attached to them in some way. Our reluctance to shed these items often stems from those stories, and the fear that disposing of the item means disposing of the memories.

An easy way to combat this fear is to create a journal and write down all the stories associated with each of those items. You can also take photos of the items, include them in the journal, and thus keep a permanent record of all the personal histories that are so valuable. Once those stories have been separated from the items, it then becomes much easier to get rid of those items. If the stories are valuable to other members of your family, you can also make copies and distribute them.

Sentimental Property Distribution Plans

Because sentimental property is typically not divisible, it’s difficult to determine how you might want to pass on that property as an inheritance. For example, should your grandfather’s wartime mementos go to your siblings, a child, or a grandchild?

These kinds of questions can have no clear answer, and when dealing with how to distribute such indivisible items it often a good idea create a fair distribution system.  You can, for example, create a system that allows your loved ones to decide on who receives those items on their own. You can also give your executor the power to develop a system that will allow each of your loved ones to make choices about which personally valuable item they like to receive.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Larry Parman, Attorney at Law
Larry Parman, Attorney at Law
Founder and Owner at Parman & Easterday
After helping his own family deal with a lengthy probate and the IRS following his father’s untimely death in a farm accident, Larry Parman made a decision to help families create effective estate plans designed to reduce taxes, minimize legal interference with the transfer of assets to one’s heirs, and protect his clients’ assets from predators and creditors.
Larry Parman, Attorney at Law
Latest posts by Larry Parman, Attorney at Law (see all)
  • Estate Administration 101 - February 2, 2023
  • Why Do You Need an Elder Law Attorney? - January 31, 2023
  • Inheritance Planning for Blended Families - January 26, 2023

Filed Under: Estate Planning, Legacy Planning

Other Articles You May Find Useful

Estate Administration 101
wills and trusts
4 Things Trusts Do That Wills Can’t Do
advance estate planning property liquidation
Downsizing Can Be Part of Your Estate Plan
Now That Mid-Terms Are Over, Let’s Talk Taxes
ancillary probate
Prevent the Nightmare of Ancillary Probate
Common Mistakes in Estate Planning – Part V

Primary Sidebar

Parman & Easterday, LLP

DOWNLOAD OUR FREE ESTATE PLANNING CHECKLIST

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR BLOG

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Where We Are

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK
13913 Quail Pointe Drive, Suite B
Oklahoma City, OK 73134
Phone: (405) 843-6100
Fax: (405) 917-7018

MAP

parman_sidbr_map

Where We Are

TULSA, OK
Memorial Place 7633 E. 63rd Place
Tulsa, OK 74133
Phone: (918) 615-2700

MAP

parman_sidbr_map

Office Hours

Monday9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Tuesday9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Wednesday9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Thursday9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Friday9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Footer

footer-logo

The information on this Oklahoma Law Firm website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this or associated pages, documents, comments, answers, emails, or other communications should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information on this website is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing of this information does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.

Oklahoma City Estate Planning Attorneys at Parman & Easterday offer estate planning services in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and surrounding areas. Contact us for help today.

Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Disclaimer | Site Map | Powered by American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys


© 2023 American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube