Tips From the Pros: Now You See It, Now You Don’t: Tangible Personal Property in TrustTips From the Pros: Now You See It, Now You Don’t: Tangible Personal Property in Trust

The bane of many a trustee’s existence is the responsibility and potential liability associated with holding, and perhaps having to dispose of, trust property that doesn’t readily lend itself to routine trust administration. Such property includes various types of tangible personal property, for example, valuable jewelry, furs, china, crystal, stemware, silver hollowware and flatware, furniture, furnishings, paintings, drawings, sculptures, graphics, rare books, coin collections, stamp collections, classic motor vehicles, firearms, equipment used on a farm or ranch and even livestock. Although such assets are sometimes a necessary component of a trust, they can give rise to substantial challenges. These assets are inherently illiquid, of...