Helping the elderly family put things in order
Many middle aged professional people find themselves helping to put the practical affairs of elderly relatives in order. This may happen after the relative passes away, or may result from the need to simplify their affairs when they move out of the family home.
Helping an elderly person to rationalise or simplify their financial affairs often requires the services of a financial planner, who may often assist with investments. Other steps such as minimising the number of bank accounts which have been accumulated over the years, and similar steps to reduce complexity speak for themselves.
Before disposing of major assets (and even assets such as shareholdings or antiques) during the elderly person’s lifetime, it is important to review their will. Complications can arise after their death where the will makes a gift of a particular asset (whether the family home, a particular shareholding or a particular antique), but it has been disposed of during their lifetime by somebody operating under a power of attorney. If that occurs, the law in New South Wales states that the person who would have received the asset itself, is entitled to the net proceeds of sale in most circumstances. If there is a specific gift of this nature in the will, and it is no longer appropriate to have the will changed, it may often be better to retain the asset, if practical. However this requires expert advice at the time.
When it comes to disposing of furniture, artwork and antiques, as well as jewellery (where it is appropriate to do so) the task can be a delicate one. There is usually the difficult task of negotiating the emotions and personalities of a number of people. This must be done carefully and objectively so far as possible, because bad feeling over such matters as these can spill into litigation about the will and estate as a whole later on. The ideal would be that items are gifted (while the elderly person is alive, if they are able to consent) to relatives and friends, or distributed amongst beneficiaries of the will after they die. This requires co- operative and flexible attitudes on all sides. Very often, items which were highly valued by the elderly person or thought by family to be of some value, if put to auction, will receive little or anything after payment of the auction costs. Unless genuinely high quality collectable antiques, artwork by very well known artists or very high quality jewellery, the amount received at auction will almost always be disappointing. Alternatives including a garage sale, sale through internet auction sites or sale to dealers may sometimes produce slightly better financial results, but are time consuming and labour intensive.
If considering sale by auction, where there appears to be an item or collection of potential value, it is sometimes possible to get some initial feedback from auction houses by way of email enquiries. Most reputable auction houses will give an indication of value and saleability if an appointment is made to take items to them to view. Auction houses are unlikely to visit the home to view furniture or other items unless they believe that there is significant value and collector interest. Naturally, it is best to choose an auction house which has specialist experience in the type of item being offered.
In the end, unless there is likely to be significant value, the real value is usually the emotional and personal value, or historical interest to family or friends, or in some cases to specialist organisations and libraries.
There are a small number of people who specialise in assisting elderly people (or their relatives after their death) to pack, move and sell the contents of a family home. In some cases, they may be able to assist in the difficult decisions to be made. Alternatively, an experienced probate and estate lawyer will have built up contacts and be able to recommend appropriate means of disposing of assets.
These thoughts may also assist a person making a will, who is thinking about how the will should deal with personal and household items.
If you would like our In House Solicitor, Sarah Hatch to establish a Family Will for your family , please call Sarah on (02) 9410-2871 or email Sarah on sarah@taurusfinancial.com.au.
Securitor Financial Group Limited is not responsible for advice provided by Soliciotor Sarah Hatch of Hatch & Associates Pty Ltd.