Do Something Nice for the Executor of Your Estate
By Richard L. Sine

Disclaimer: I neither am an attorney nor accountant, nor have I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in the past 12 months.

Given that such a high percentage of stamp collectors do not dispose of their collections prior to their move on to that great stamp meeting in the sky, their estate executors are faced with the primary question of what to do. Here are some of the disparate issues that may emerge:

Collection where perceived value is “catalog value” and an attempt to sell brings (legitimate) offers at 10% of that value range

If the above occurs, the executor tells family and friends of the extreme low-ball offer and philately gets a bad name. The collection then is placed at the back of a closet, keeping others from being able to enjoy its contents for a long time.

Collection where no value is known by the executor; a prospective purchaser, who senses this lack of knowledge, makes an extremely low-ball offer and smilingly goes off to resell at a tremendous profit

To reduce stress on those who follow you, particularly at a time when the executor is working to do the best job possible, you need to provide some preparation. First and foremost, keep your collection in an organized manner, with albums of boxes of glassine envelopes properly identified.

Further, have an inventory of your holdings, preferably noting each stamp and at least individually accounting for the higher-value items. The more information you provide, the better. If you have expertizing certificates, so note. Essentially, your inventory document … whether digital or on paper … will be the guidebook for the executor.

I have an Excel spreadsheet with individual pages for regular issues, airmail, official stamps, etc. I include Scott catalog values to allow an executor to have a feel for total as well as individual value. While I have been building this inventory for at least 25 years, the key word here is “building.” Not yet included is a “text” page that provides an overview of the collection and my own estimation of how it will be valued if/when offered for resale. My text page will include a note as to what sort of overall value one could expect, i.e., what percent of catalog value a dealer might offer.

Once you have an inventory document in decent form, take whatever time necessary to walk the projected executor through your collection. Make this upbeat and not at all morbid. If you are an APS member, be certain to mention the APS estate advisory service. At the same time, also note that unless the person who the APS sends to help your executor knows you, that person will come in somewhat blank relative to your material. Therefore, while there certainly will be some expertise offered, such at first necessarily will be general and that person also will be depending on your inventory document.

Finally, if planning to sell the material, try to obtain more than one offer. If the first two are very close in price, that is a suggestion that there is accuracy as to value. If you get three and one is much higher than the other two, consider seeking another offer. While your executor need not make this a lifelong quest to obtain the best price, certainly he/she will want to obtain true value.

This whole process is not easy on anyone. Unless there is a need for quick cash, there is no need to rush. If the executor needs a market value to satisfy probate requirements, a call to a reputable dealer to get a ballpark percent-of-catalog should work. The executor should not use catalog value to satisfy probate requirements, and run the risk of increasing fees and/or taxes.

There are a lot of war stories revolving around inherited collections, from the “WOW, it’s worth how much?” to feelings that dealers all are creatures living below ground and who only come out to rip off the unknowing. The best situation, I believe, is one where there is no story to be repeated.