Dividing Tangible Personal Property in Trust or Estate Administration

WealthCounsel, the industry leader in automated drafting software for trusts and estates attorneys’ quarterly summer 2021 magazine features several articles related to trust drafting and administration.  A feature article was, “Dividing Tangible Personal Property in Trust or Estate Administration”, by David MacMahan, founder and president of FairSplit.com.

The article deals with tips on how to list, share and divide assets peacefully and fairly between heirs using the FairSplit.com online tools or as just tips for a fair process.  As shown in the following excerpt, many of the tips are universal:

“All heirs must acknowledge that they have received, reviewed, and approved the full property list. This list might be a full appraisal of all assets in a PDF file, a comprehensive list in Excel, or papers in a binder. FairSplit organizes this process online by rooms and categories, with individually photographed items so there is clarity about what is being chosen.”

Dealing with dividing tangible personal property is often challenging when dividing estates and downsizing.  As David notes in the article: “Putting more thought and structure into the estate planning documents will certainly prove invaluable to families, but short of that, be aware of the challenges, available solutions, and provide guidance accordingly.

Read the full article below or download it .