How Can I Dispose of My Personal Property in My Estate Plan?

If you have been thinking about creating or updating your estate plan, you may be wondering how you can dispose of your personal property. Most of us have collected personal items of varying monetary value throughout our lives: pieces of artwork, jewelry, a favorite sweater. When you are thinking about developing your estate plan, you may wonder what to do with those personal items that do not have an official “titled” owner. These personal items may also have emotional or sentimental value to you and/or your loved ones.

When considering passing on your tangible personal property, there are several different options to ensure your loved ones receive the items you wish for them to have.

Give Personal Property Away During Your Lifetime

One common way for personal property to be distributed is giving it away while you are alive. This allows you to speak with your beneficiaries about the gift you are giving them, and perhaps even see them enjoy it. This also usually prevents you from having to make specific provisions in your will or other documents.

Give Personal Property Away Through Your Will

If you do not want to distribute your personal property while you are still alive, you can direct that your personal property be distributed a certain way through your estate plan. If you have just one person who you wish to receive everything, you can issue a blanket statement in your will that says you wish to give all of your personal property to X.

However, if you have personal property that you wish to distribute to multiple individuals, a list outlining the personal property and recipients – separate from your will – can be helpful. This separate writing is a list of personal items you own and the instructions you wish to be followed as to who gets them. To achieve your desired result, the separate list must be signed by you (and dated) and describe the personal property and the recipients with “reasonable certainty.” While this separate writing is not included in your will, your will must reference the list for it to be valid.

Jacksonville Estate Planning Attorney

If you are in Florida and are interested in discussing your estate plan, how to bequeath your personal property, and whether a will or trust better suits you, contact us today. If you are ready to get started on your Florida estate plan, you can do so here.