For love or money

A movie, a reality TV series, a book and many TV episodes have these words as their title. And unfortunately, all too often this can be used as a headline when a millionaire or billionaire leaves an estate that is going to be contested. Recently Mel Simon's (of the Simon Mall fortune) daughter filed court papers stating that her father was "coerced" into increasing the amount going to her stepmother, Bren.

Few of us will find ourselves fighting over billions of dollars, but while providing our home inventory service, we have found discord in the family is often created by the little things. The smallest of small. The tiniest of tiny. And in the process, loss of - or at the least, disrupted - the love between family members.

We've witnessed or have heard the stories of people arguing over a piece of jewelry (not a valuable diamond, either), a rug, a cookie jar with a cracked lid, a quilt, a candy jar with a chip in it...the list goes on and on. What I find interesting is that it's usually the love one has for the recently departed that makes the family members want that specific item. Unfortunately, there are usually 2 or more that have the same sentiment for that piece.

Whether you are a gazillionaire or have just a few dollars, plan for the day when your family will have the responsibility of dealing with your estate. Having an inventory of your belonings and letting people know who-gets-what is the perfect way to make the estate settlement easier for your executor.