2 reasons sentimental items lead to estate disputes

As you make your estate plan, you know that you want to avoid disputes between your beneficiaries. You don’t want your adult children fighting over who gets the life insurance payout or who gets to keep the family home. These expensive assets need to be planned for in advance.

One important thing to remember, though, is that items with sentimental value can also cause estate disputes. These may not be worth nearly as much as a life insurance policy or a home, but that can actually make them more complex. Here are two reasons why these disputes often happen.

2 people can’t own the same asset

First and foremost, joint ownership is often impossible. The children may simply have a sentimental connection to something like a piece of artwork, a book collection, a family Bible or a trailer that you used to take camping. People want those exact items because that’s where the sentimental value lies, but it’s often hard or even impossible to share ownership. This means that one person is always going to be let down, feeling like they did not receive the asset that they wanted.

The second issue is that these items do not have much financial value. When children fight over something like a home, there’s always the option to sell the house and split up the money. They are probably most interested in the financial value anyway. But if they are interested in sentimental value, selling the item doesn’t help.

For these reasons, sentimental items often cause estate disputes. Take the time to consider what options you have when making your estate plan, as advance planning may be able to reduce the odds of such a dispute.