Who Gets the Golf Clubs

My grandfather was born in 1905. He was a pharmacist in San Antonio, TX. I never got the chance to meet him, but I grew up playing with his golf clubs. They were wooden and in an old leather bag. He had about a dozen of them, hickory golf clubs from the late1920s. Every time my cousins and I visited my grandmother’s house, we were relegated to a sweeping backyard, often with clubs in hand.

They served as wands, swords, clubs, canes, props and did just about anything…except hit golf balls. As we aged, our affinity for antique clubs changed. My uncle golfed; my cousins did not. And over time, they sat undisturbed in a corner of a closet.

My grandmother lived until age ninety-nine. And at ninety-seven, all hands were on deck to help her move into an assisted living facility. At which point, both my cousin and I grabbed the golf clubs. A tangible moment and poignant question, who gets them? And in that moment, a fantastic allegory unfolded for a lesson in estate planning, property, titling and probate.

Property can be defined in one of two categories, real property or personal property. Real property is generally land, structures affixed to land, and anything owned above or below land (such as mineral rights). Personal property is everything else. Personal property includes tangible assets, such as furniture, cars, clothing, cash and physical items including antique golf clubs. Personal property also includes intangible assets, such as investment accounts, retirement plans, insurance policies, patents and more.

At death, both your real and personal property will pass to someone else. If we have a thoughtful and coordinated estate plan, we can better control that process. Without any estate plan or coordination, we rely on the laws of the states in which we own property. Those laws often fall short of the result we are hoping for. We refer to the process of passing without an estate plan as passing “intestate” and each state has their own set of guidelines.

Let’s jump back to the moment Gary and I locked eyes over clubs. They were originally personal property of my grandfather. He passed without a will and Texas is a fantastic example of where the intestate process falls short of the green. At his death, Texas law routed 1/3 of his personal property (four clubs) to his spouse and the remaining 2/3 (eight clubs) to his children. Subsequently, when my grandmother passed, all her property (including her four remaining clubs) was distributed equally among her children.

If instead my grandfather lived in Illinois, half of his personal property (six clubs) would have passed to his spouse at death and the remaining half to his children. Those six clubs would eventually make it to her children at her death. Real property can get even more complicated. Throw in a divorce, additional children, taxes and remarriage and the world of intestate law quickly becomes a sand trap.

In the end, Gary and I split the clubs as a keepsake. My sister and other cousin weren’t interested. This is a situation that would have been much different if instead of golf clubs we were talking about acres of farmland, other real estate or a meaningful IRA balance.

Having a coordinated estate plan in place helps your family determine, well in advance, what happens to your property in the future. At Sterling, our team is passionate about coordinating with the other professionals in your life – like your estate planning attorney – to prepare you for what tomorrow brings. Our approach is to create bridges between the professional experts in your financial world to help you coordinate your goals and, in the case of your estate plan, to ensure titling, beneficiaries and estate planning documents are accomplishing what you intend.

If you’d like to discuss your estate planning goals, please reach out to our team at Sterling Wealth Management. It would be an honor to have the conversation – we are always here to help!