How To Pass On Valuable Possessions And Collections In Your Will

When making a Will, it is natural to focus on the big-ticket items such as your home, savings and investments. However, many people also have valuable or sentimental possessions that they may want to pass on to a particular person.

Increasingly, people are gifting wine collections, artwork, jewellery, classic cars, rare books and more valuable assets. If you have spent years building a collection, you may want to ensure it goes to someone who will appreciate and look after it.

Taking the time to make your wishes clear can help your executors administer your estate and reduce the risk of disagreements between beneficiaries.

Can I leave a valuable collection in my Will?

Yes. For example, a wine collection can be treated as an asset of your estate and can be specifically gifted to a named beneficiary in your Will.

It is important that the wording is sufficiently clear to identify exactly what you are intending to leave them, particularly if the collection is large or likely to change over time.

It can also be helpful to explain your reasoning to family members during your lifetime, particularly if you are leaving a valuable collection to one person but not others who might reasonably expect to receive a share of your estate.

A wine collection may grow considerably between making your Will and your death. Rather than simply referring to a collection that may no longer exist in exactly the same form, it is worth discussing with a solicitor how best to describe the gift within the Will.

What other unusual assets should I consider?

Wine is just one example of an asset that can be overlooked when making a Will.

You may own possessions that have a much greater value than you realise, or that have particular importance to your family. These could include:

These possessions should not necessarily be treated as an afterthought when making a Will. HM Revenue & Customs considers items such as antiques, paintings, jewellery and collections, including wines and spirits, when calculating the value of an estate for Inheritance Tax purposes.

If an item or collection has significant value, it is particularly important that your executors know that it exists and have enough information to identify and value it.

Why is keeping an inventory important?

Keeping a detailed inventory of valuable possessions can make the administration of your estate considerably easier.

For a wine collection, this could include details such as:

This information can help your executors establish what you owned and what it was worth. The value of assets forms part of the calculation when establishing the value of an estate for Inheritance Tax purposes, with HMRC generally looking at the open market value of possessions.

For particularly valuable items, it may be sensible to obtain a professional valuation and keep this updated where appropriate.

Can I tell someone what I want them to do with the gift?

It is important to remember that once an asset has been given outright to a beneficiary, they will generally have control over it.

For example, if you leave your wine collection to a child, they may ultimately decide to keep it, sell it or give it away. The same would apply to an artwork, antique or other valuable possession.

If you have particular hopes about what should happen to an item after your death, these wishes can be explained in a Letter of Wishes.

However, a Letter of Wishes is not the same as the legally binding provisions of your Will and cannot normally be relied upon to impose conditions on an outright gift.

For this reason, it is important to think carefully about not only what you want to leave someone, but also how you want them to receive it.

What happens if I don’t specifically leave an item to someone?

If you want a particular person to receive a specific possession, it is important that your wishes are properly reflected in your Will as a gift, rather than leaving the asset to be dealt with as part of the general estate.

Without clear instructions, there can be uncertainty about what should happen to a valuable or sentimental possession. This can become particularly difficult where several family members believe they have a claim to an item or collection.

A solicitor can help ensure the wording of your Will reflects exactly what you want to happen and takes account of the wider structure of your estate.

What about sentimental possessions?

Not every valuable possession has a significant monetary value.

A family photograph, piece of jewellery, musical instrument or antique may be worth relatively little on the open market but have enormous sentimental importance to those left behind.

These items can sometimes cause more disagreement than purely financial assets, particularly if several family members have emotional attachments to them.

If there are possessions that you know certain family members would value, consider discussing your intentions with them during your lifetime and making your wishes clear in your Will.

You can also state your intentions behind your decisions within the Letter of Wishes, and although it is not legally binding, it can provide useful context for your executors and beneficiaries.

Planning ahead can help avoid disputes

For many people, a Will is about more than deciding who receives their money. It is an opportunity to make clear what should happen to the possessions that have mattered to them throughout their lifetime.

Whether you have a wine cellar, an art collection, a house full of antiques or a particularly valuable family heirloom, taking the time to identify these assets and explain your wishes can make things much easier for your executors.

It is generally sensible to review your Will every few years and whenever there is a significant change in your circumstances and any accompanying statements each year to ensure it is as up to date as possible. This is even more important if you plan to gift a collection which will consistently grow or change.

You should also review your Will following major life changes, such as marriage, divorce, the birth of children or grandchildren, the death of a beneficiary or executor, or significant changes to your financial circumstances. If your wishes have changed, your Will may need to be formally updated.

Ultimately, good preparation is about making things as straightforward as possible for your executors and beneficiaries. Taking the time to keep your Will and records up to date can make a significant difference when the time comes to administer your estate.