For collectors
A collection is an asset class. Most estate plans treat it as furniture.
Valuation, tax, and succession planning for art, cars, wine, and other collections — so what took a lifetime to assemble isn't auctioned off to cover a tax bill.
In Drew’s Words
Collections & Collectibles
Simply Explained
Serious collections tend to sit outside the financial plan entirely. They are rarely appraised on any schedule, often uninsured for what they are actually worth, and almost never addressed in the estate documents beyond a line about personal property.
That creates three specific problems: collectibles are taxed differently from other investments, they are illiquid at exactly the moment an estate needs liquidity, and heirs frequently do not want them — which turns a considered collection into a forced sale.
We inventory and appraise what you hold, position it correctly for tax purposes, and work through the succession decision honestly — including the possibility that selling during your lifetime is the better answer.
How It Works
Inventory and appraisal
What you own gets catalogued and independently appraised, with documentation kept current rather than reconstructed after the fact.
Tax positioning
Collectibles carry their own capital gains treatment and their own charitable rules. We work through what each disposition path actually costs.
The succession conversation
We ask directly whether your heirs want the collection — and plan around the honest answer rather than the assumed one.
Documents and titling
Coordinated with legal counsel so the collection is addressed specifically in the estate plan, with liquidity available to cover what it triggers.
Who this is for
- Collectors whose art, automobiles, wine, or memorabilia represent a meaningful share of net worth
- Collectors whose estate documents address the collection only as generic personal property
- Families weighing whether to pass a collection down, sell it, or give it charitably
Who this isn’t for
- Casual collectors whose holdings are unlikely to affect their tax or estate picture
- Anyone looking for a dealer, broker, or auction representative rather than planning around the asset
Questions
Are collectibles really taxed differently?
Yes. Long-term gains on collectibles are subject to a maximum federal capital gains rate of 28%, rather than the lower rates that apply to most long-term investment gains. That difference is material enough to change whether selling, gifting, or holding until death is the better path — and it is routinely overlooked.
My children don't want the collection. What then?
That is the most common answer, and it is far better to know now. Options include selling during your lifetime while you still control timing and price, structuring a charitable gift, or leaving specific instructions and the liquidity to execute them. What fails is leaving the decision to heirs who have no interest and no expertise.
Do I need a fresh appraisal, or is my insurance schedule enough?
An insurance schedule is usually replacement value, which is not the same standard used for estate or charitable purposes and is often years stale. For planning, a qualified appraisal on the correct standard of value is what holds up — particularly where a charitable deduction is involved.
The estate needs liquidity and I don't want to sell the collection. What are the options?
This is the problem a collection creates: the tax bill arrives in cash and the asset is illiquid. One route that gets overlooked is a life settlement — selling a life insurance policy you no longer need for more than its surrender value, and using the proceeds to cover what the estate owes. That can keep the collection intact and out of a forced sale. We look at every policy you hold as part of this work.
Related services
Planning rarely stops at one decision. These are the pieces that most often sit alongside collections & collectibles planning.
- Estate & Trust Planning
Wills, trusts, and beneficiary designations coordinated with your actual financial plan — reviewed and implemented under one roof alongside our legal counsel, not left to gather dust.
- Tax Planning
Your investment decisions and your tax strategy, built by the same team, under one roof — instead of an advisor and a CPA who've never spoken.