Many estate disputes involve financial or high-value assets, such as a business, a home or an investment portfolio. These disputes often arise among beneficiaries who want to ensure they receive their fair share.
For example, if a parent leaves a family home to multiple children, most of them may want to sell the home and split the proceeds, especially if the property’s value has significantly increased in the current real estate market. However, one co-owner may want to keep the home in the family or even live in it themselves, leading to a dispute. The underlying issue is that the home holds tremendous financial value.
However, it’s equally important for those drafting estate plans to remember that sentimental items can also cause disputes. These items may have little financial value, but that often makes the situation even more complex.
Family heirlooms
The challenge with family heirlooms and other items with sentimental value is that heirs want these specific items for emotional reasons. For instance, they may want a collection of books they remember reading with their parents or a special set of dishes used every Christmas during their childhood.
On one hand, dividing sentimental items can be extremely difficult. If only one person can receive a particular item, other beneficiaries are naturally going to feel disappointed with any method of distribution.
Additionally, selling such items is not often a viable solution. A book collection may have little financial value, and the beneficiaries aren’t trying to extract money from these assets anyway. The value is emotional—they want the specific items themselves. Purchasing a similar book collection wouldn’t feel like a satisfactory replacement.
These complexities make disputes over sentimental items both likely and challenging to resolve. Those involved need to understand exactly what legal steps they can take.