Estate disputes can happen for many different reasons and surrounding a variety of assets. In some cases, it’s just about money. A group of beneficiaries has been left a significant sum of money that will change their lives, and they can’t agree on how that money should be divided under the terms of the estate plan.
But the one benefit of these disputes is that dividing the assets is at least possible. The beneficiaries may disagree about the percentage of the money that they should get, but it can be split between them. Even high-value assets like a family home can be sold, and then the money earned in the sale can be divided. These disputes can be complicated, but they do have an eventual solution.
What do you do with sentimental items?
There are two main problems with sentimental items, the first being that they may not be financially valuable. It’s impossible to sell them because there’s no market for those items.
And even if there is a market, the beneficiaries don’t want to sell. For example, maybe there’s a dispute over what to do with a mother’s jewelry collection. Even if it’s worth a few thousand dollars, the beneficiaries are only interested in that specific jewelry because it belonged to their mother. They don’t want to sell it and split up the money. They’re not looking to buy other copies of the same jewelry. They want the specific items that were owned by their parent because that is where the sentimental value lies.
For these two reasons, it’s often very difficult to find solutions to these types of estate disputes. Family members who are involved need to be aware of exactly what legal steps to take.