How would you feel if the pretty vase in your lounge that you had decided to leave to one of your relatives because they had always liked it, turned out to be worth £9 million?
This happened in relation to the estate of a Mrs. Rodger whose Chinese vase recently sold at an auction or £9 million. She had promised the vase to her niece to keep it in the family but had no clue as to its actual value. In that case a settlement was reached between the niece and the executors as the vase needed to be sold to pay inheritance tax. We will never know the details of the settlement.
However, this does raise the question as to what Mrs. Rodger would have wanted to happen if she had known about the value of the vase and the need to sell it to pay the inheritance tax. Her intention in leaving it to her niece was to keep the vase in the family, but if it had become apparent to her that this would not be possible, would she want the sale proceeds to pass to that niece or would she want them split between her other 30 odd beneficiaries?
If you have any items that may have some value, consider getting them valued now, both so that you can ensure that those items will go to the people you want them to and also to make sure that they are correctly insured in case they were stolen, damaged or destroyed.
In addition, when making a will and leaving items to individuals, always consider the value of those items and make sure it is clear to the executors that you would want the chosen beneficiary to receive the sale proceeds even if that item had to be sold. Even better, to ensure that your wishes take effect, consider an outright gift of the item to that beneficiary in your will.
