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sensitive subject? Coin collecting and estate planning

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  • 2ndCharter2ndCharter Posts: 1,682 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Several years ago, my wife and I retired from New York to South Carolina so that takes care of the tax situation. Regarding the collection, I intend to keep everything (and aggressively add to it) as long as I'm capable of fogging a mirror. However, the arrangements have already been made - if I'm hit by the proverbial bus tomorrow, everything goes to Heritage. One phone call from my wife or kids and they come pick it up and it will be sold on very favorable terms.

    Member ANA, SPMC, SCNA, FUN, CONECA

  • derrybderryb Posts: 37,211 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited October 19, 2021 9:16AM

    @2ndCharter said:
    Several years ago, my wife and I retired from New York to South Carolina so that takes care of the tax situation. Regarding the collection, I intend to keep everything (and aggressively add to it) as long as I'm capable of fogging a mirror. However, the arrangements have already been made - if I'm hit by the proverbial bus tomorrow, everything goes to Heritage. One phone call from my wife or kids and they come pick it up and it will be sold on very favorable terms.

    Many SC county probate courts (Charleston Co. for my dad's estate) allow an estate to be handled by a non-lawyer. Charleston county made it simple for me to do so as executor as they have a very user friendly website (with all the necessary forms) for the do-it-yourself executor. They even held a class for executors. Estate saved over $40K in attorney fees.

    Note that there is no "estate" handling if your wife survives you and is your sole heir at that time. What is yours magically becomes hers overnight.

    Repetition of ignorance is ignorance raised to the power two.

  • moursundmoursund Posts: 3,207 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @derryb said:

    @2ndCharter said:
    Several years ago, my wife and I retired from New York to South Carolina so that takes care of the tax situation. Regarding the collection, I intend to keep everything (and aggressively add to it) as long as I'm capable of fogging a mirror. However, the arrangements have already been made - if I'm hit by the proverbial bus tomorrow, everything goes to Heritage. One phone call from my wife or kids and they come pick it up and it will be sold on very favorable terms.

    Many SC county probate courts (Charleston Co. for my dad's estate) allow an estate to be handled by a non-lawyer. Charleston county made it simple for me to do so as executor as they have a very user friendly website (with all the necessary forms) for the do-it-yourself executor. They even held a class for executors. Estate saved over $40K in attorney fees.

    Note that there is no "estate" handling if your wife survives you and is your sole heir at that time. What is yours magically becomes hers overnight.

    My wife is older than I... maybe I need a new and younger wife, to help with my estate planning... :wink:

    100th pint of blood donated 7/19/2022 B) . Transactions with WilliamF, Relaxn, LukeMarshal, jclovescoins, braddick, JWP, Weather11am, Fairlaneman, Dscoins, lordmarcovan, Collectorcoins, SurfinxHI, JimW. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that who so believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
  • slider23slider23 Posts: 658 ✭✭✭✭

    If your coins are in a safe deposit box, make sure a trusted family member is signed on to the the safe deposit box card or your heirs will most likely need a probate court order (depending on state laws) to gain access to the coins.

  • vulcanizevulcanize Posts: 1,408 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @moursund said:
    My wife is older than I... maybe I need a new and younger wife, to help with my estate planning... :wink:

    LOL.
    Do discuss this with her and tell us the outcome - just asking for a friend. :p

  • FrankHFrankH Posts: 982 ✭✭✭✭✭

    My newer thinking is that any heirs who know/knew you were a collector, but never bothered to either ask you anything or study on their own are going to dump to whomever, wherever, and where fastest.

    This speaks volumes about their interest in you and ...your..... interests.
    So.... let the chips fall where they may.

    Possibly whoever ends up with the coins will prosper from them.

    On the other hand, if heirs DO have any interest then it behooves you to keep good records and declare who gets what.

    This may be harsh...but it may also be ...just.

    Inheritance is nice. It is even nicer if it's deserved.

    :)

  • Raybob15239Raybob15239 Posts: 1,359 ✭✭✭

    @JJM said:

    Connecticut: Estate tax of 10.8 percent to 12 percent on estates above $7.1 million
    District of Columbia: Estate tax of 11.2 percent to 16 percent on estates above $4 million
    Hawaii: Estate tax of 10 percent to 20 percent on estates above $5.5 million
    Illinois: Estate tax of 0.8 percent to 16 percent on estates above $4 million
    Iowa: Inheritance tax of up to 15 percent
    Kentucky: Inheritance tax of up to 16 percent
    Maine: Estate tax of 8 percent to 12 percent on estates above $5.8 million
    Maryland: Estate tax of 0.8 percent to 16 percent on estates above $5 million; inheritance tax of up to 10 percent
    Massachusetts: 0.8 percent to 16 percent on estates above $1 million
    Minnesota: 13 percent to 16 percent on estates above $3 million
    Nebraska: Inheritance tax of up to 18 percent
    New Jersey: Inheritance tax of up to 16 percent
    New York: Estate tax of 3.06 percent to 16 percent for estates above $5.9 million
    Oregon: Estate tax of 10 percent to 16 percent on estates above $1 million
    Pennsylvania: Inheritance tax of up to 15 percent
    Rhode Island: Estate tax of 0.8 percent to 16 percent on estates above $1.6 million
    Vermont: Estate tax of 16 percent on estates above $5 million
    Washington: Estate tax of 10 percent to 20 percent on estates above $2.2 million

    Successful B/S/T transactions: As Seller: PascoWA (June 2008); MsMorrisine (April 2009); ECHOES (July 2009) As Buyer: bfjohnson (July 2008); robkool (Dec 2010); itsnotjustme (Dec 2010) TwoSides2aCoin (Dec 2018) PrivateCoin Jan 2019
  • privatecoinprivatecoin Posts: 3,519 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I'll leave mine in a puzzle to be solved like national treasure. :D

    Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value. Zero. Voltaire. Ebay coinbowlllc

  • moursundmoursund Posts: 3,207 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @FrankH said:
    My newer thinking is that any heirs who know/knew you were a collector, but never bothered to either ask you anything or study on their own are going to dump to whomever, wherever, and where fastest.

    This speaks volumes about their interest in you and ...your..... interests.
    So.... let the chips fall where they may.

    Possibly whoever ends up with the coins will prosper from them.

    On the other hand, if heirs DO have any interest then it behooves you to keep good records and declare who gets what.

    This may be harsh...but it may also be ...just.

    Inheritance is nice. It is even nicer if it's deserved.

    :)

    The whole "leave a big pile of money to your heirs" is tricky. Is it good for them? Do they need it?
    If I pass away at the age of e.g. 86, my children will all be in their 50s. Maybe an inheritance would help them afford to retire at some point, but i HOPE they will already be established and secure by then. Funding college education for (as yet potential) grandchildren sounds like a good idea, especially if any of them dote on me and like coins. :smile:

    100th pint of blood donated 7/19/2022 B) . Transactions with WilliamF, Relaxn, LukeMarshal, jclovescoins, braddick, JWP, Weather11am, Fairlaneman, Dscoins, lordmarcovan, Collectorcoins, SurfinxHI, JimW. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that who so believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
  • vulcanizevulcanize Posts: 1,408 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @moursund said:

    The whole "leave a big pile of money to your heirs" is tricky. Is it good for them? Do they need it?
    If I pass away at the age of e.g. 86, my children will all be in their 50s. Maybe an inheritance would help them afford to retire at some point, but i HOPE they will already be established and secure by then. Funding college education for (as yet potential) grandchildren sounds like a good idea, especially if any of them dote on me and like coins. :smile:

    My dad told me that if he paid for my college, I would party away and it was perhaps true at that time in my wild carefree days. Used the same philosophy with my kids, thus pushing the older two to get full ride academic scholarship for their choice of undergrad programs in preferred universities. Youngest has big shoes to fill and definitely has to find his own way.

    So keeping fingers crossed that whatever they inherit from me some day would hopefully go towards notable and worthy cause without any frivolous activity and even do the same when they have kids, paying it forward :cookie:

  • ElcontadorElcontador Posts: 7,576 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @Elcontador1 said:

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @Elcontador said:
    Find out whom in your family is interested in your collection. Draft estate planning docs accordingly.

    For coins no one wants, link up with a dealer or organization you trust. Specify in estate planning docs he / she / it will handle sale of coins and disburse proceeds to heirs as specified in trust docs.

    If you have a collection worth over 50K, pay to have an appraisal done. You will need this valuation to support the number listed on your Federal / State estate tax return.

    Do not die in a state with an estate tax. A client just died, she is not required to file a Federal estate tax return, but is required to file one in Oregon: which means the Federal estate tax return must be prepared to attach as backup to the Oregon Form. Between legal and accounting fees, her estate will pay possibly $20K in legal and accounting fees. Add this to Oregon estate taxes. A portion of professional fees would have to be paid in any event, just to sort out her estate, but the rest would otherwise be unnecessary.

    Personally, I think transferring coins is a mistake if you have multiple heirs. The resulting split could be viewed as inequitable and result in squabbles. Better to have it all sold and split the money. Any heir who wants can bid for the coins they want.

    Responding from home: Specify which heirs have first pics, then second, etc. The wife is first, immediate family members next as specified. Shouldn't be any squabbles. And if there are, I'm dead anyway, so it's not my problem.

    In theory, that works fine. I know of two estates that ended up causing an irreparable breach between siblings.

    JM - I've seen a number of these cases. Money tends to bring out the worst in people under these circumstances. That said, it would have eventually happened anyway.

    "Vou invadir o Nordeste,
    "Seu cabra da peste,
    "Sou Mangueira......."
  • daltexdaltex Posts: 3,486 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @JJM said:

    "Only" an estate tax compared to what?

  • DisneyFanDisneyFan Posts: 2,230 ✭✭✭✭✭

    In terms of how meaningful collecting is, I'm mindful of President, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

    "The rewards of stamp collecting blessed much of FDR’s life. As a child, he looked to stamps for knowledge about the world. As a polio-stricken adult, they offered solace. Throughout his entire life, including his presidency, he spent time each day with his collection.

    The time each day spent with his stamps relaxed President Roosevelt during those very tense times. He claimed, “I owe my life to my hobbies – especially stamp collecting.” His son James recollected, “I have vivid memories of Father sitting at his desk when he had a half hour or hour with no appointments . . . with his stamp books and an expression of complete relaxation and enjoyment on his face.” In addition to enjoying his stamps privately each day, FDR joined stamp clubs, bought stamps from dealers and in auction."

    I'm not about to give up my collections; however, I have consolidated and inventoried them so that they will be manageable. Perhaps when I'm in my nineties, I may sell my coins and start going through inexpensive stamp collections that have been given to me over the years and consolidate them into a few albums.

    Oregon was one of my favorite places and I used to sing "Down the Oregon Trail" by the Sons of the Pioneers and love the look of Oregon commemorative half dollars; but, ultra liberal Oregon with 10% estate taxes on estates over $1 million would make me want to have at least a Winter home elsewhere and declare it as my principal residence.

  • FrankHFrankH Posts: 982 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Elcontador said:

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @Elcontador1 said:

    @jmlanzaf said:

    @Elcontador said:
    Find out whom in your family is interested in your collection. Draft estate planning docs accordingly.

    For coins no one wants, link up with a dealer or organization you trust. Specify in estate planning docs he / she / it will handle sale of coins and disburse proceeds to heirs as specified in trust docs.

    If you have a collection worth over 50K, pay to have an appraisal done. You will need this valuation to support the number listed on your Federal / State estate tax return.

    Do not die in a state with an estate tax. A client just died, she is not required to file a Federal estate tax return, but is required to file one in Oregon: which means the Federal estate tax return must be prepared to attach as backup to the Oregon Form. Between legal and accounting fees, her estate will pay possibly $20K in legal and accounting fees. Add this to Oregon estate taxes. A portion of professional fees would have to be paid in any event, just to sort out her estate, but the rest would otherwise be unnecessary.

    Personally, I think transferring coins is a mistake if you have multiple heirs. The resulting split could be viewed as inequitable and result in squabbles. Better to have it all sold and split the money. Any heir who wants can bid for the coins they want.

    Responding from home: Specify which heirs have first pics, then second, etc. The wife is first, immediate family members next as specified. Shouldn't be any squabbles. And if there are, I'm dead anyway, so it's not my problem.

    In theory, that works fine. I know of two estates that ended up causing an irreparable breach between siblings.

    JM - I've seen a number of these cases. Money tends to bring out the worst in people under these circumstances. That said, it would have eventually happened anyway.

    I'm of the opinion that in the families, it's the slackers who will disrupt the situation.
    People just will not take the energy to create a good nest egg for themselves. It takes work.
    Rare are families where all members succeed.

    :|

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