WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO HANDLE COLLECTIBLES AND FAMILY HEIRLOOMS IN AN ESTATE PLAN?

While I’m on the subject of frequently asked questions concerning personal property, the best way to handle your collectibles and family heirlooms in your estate plan is to have a provision for a personal property list in your will, then make a detailed list of the items and who is to receive each item.  The list doesn’t have to include every single item.  Any items that are left off will be included in the gift of the rest of your estate (the residue).
You can identify items by category, but if there’s any possibility for uncertainty about whether a category does or does not include a particular item, it might be better to make a specific reference to that item.
I wrote about this subject in more detail in a recent Estate Planning Law Report.  You can find it in the publications section of my firm’s web site, here.