Personal Effects

In terms of monetary value, the decedent's personal effects are of the least value yet often take up a substantial amount of planning time when creating a last will. What are personal effects? The general definition is personal or intimate belongings of an individual such as clothing, jewelry, mementos, personal papers, awards, photographs, and other similar items. As this definition can be slippery, I prefer to draft a definition of "personal effects" into the last will.

My experience has been that people really put mucho thought into who gets their stuff and quite often change their mind after their will has been drafted and executed. To help with this problem, Section 2‑513 of the Uniform Probate Code (adopted by most states) contains a mechanism for naming beneficiaries for specific items of personal property through a separate written list that is signed and dated. I give clients a copy of the separate list for personal effects in electronic format allowing them to change the list at will as they may so choose. Here is a sample written list for use in the bequest of specific items of personal property (MS Word format).