Attorney Thomas B. Burton explains how a Tangible Personal Property List referenced in your Will or Trust can save you money on attorneys fees down the road when you add or change something on the list.
Transcript of Video: How a Tangible Personal Property List in Your Will or Trust Can Save You Money on Attorney Fees
Today's topic what is a tangible
personal property memorandum this is a
little something I do in almost all my
estate plans to provide flexibility to
the client I'm helping and to help them
avoid the need to pay me for changes
down the road a few decades ago the
Wisconsin Legislature adopted language
allowing you to reference a tangible
personal property statement in your will
that includes only tangible personal
property and what we mean by that is it
would be items of furniture or pictures
or jewelry that do not have a separate
title like real estate or a car so let's
say for example you have the china
that you'd like to leave to your
daughter you can fill this form out date
and initial it and leave it as a
direction to your personal
representative under your will or your
trustee under your trust of who you would
like to receive that item and it's
legally valid according to the statutes
where this benefits you is I try to
include these in all of my will or trust
plans so that my client as they go
through life and think of one specific
item they'd like to leave to a specific
person can fill out this form and not
have to call me to change their will or
trust because calling me again can
involve money and time on their part and
in addition it can require them to
execute the will again with two
witnesses or the notary for the trust so
this tangible personal property
statement is a great way to add
flexibility to your estate plan and not
worry about what if I change my mind in
a few years about who should receive
that antique or special item or piece of
silver or a dishware and it beats the
method that some of my clients do where
you put the sticky notes on the back of
the picture or antique which is a good
method unless the sticky note falls off
so talk to your lawyer about using this tangible
personal property statement it's valid
under Wisconsin law for
a will and a trust and it can
greatly ease your mind concerning who
gets what and it makes your personal
representative's job easier because they
then have this list to follow when
you're gone thank you for watching.
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Transcript and captions provided for ease of access for the hearing impaired.
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