People tell their stories through objects. Protecting irreplaceable family heirlooms from damage or loss is a vital part of keeping your family’s history alive. Whether you collect art, jewelry, historical items, or curiosities, or have inherited a collection from a relative, properly appraising and insuring these items can help preserve your family’s legacy for generations.

What Is A Legacy Collection?

A legacy collection can comprise anything you plan to pass on to family. Some common examples include fine art, china and dinnerware, and jewelry, but may also include a broad array of collectibles—from antique toys to vintage militaria or baseball cards. These items may have both sentimental and financial value, but their monetary value must be appraised before a permanent value can be placed on it for insurance purposes.

How Are Your Legacy Possessions Stored?

Legacy possessions have a way of ending up in interesting places. While some (such as art collections) are proudly displayed in the family home, some legacy collections may be stored out of sight, or even offsite. Collections of larger valuables (vintage cars, for example) must sometimes be stored in their own structure. How well your legacy possessions are stored can either preserve or jeopardize their value. For example, if your legacy includes hand-painted fine art or fragile hand-written letters, these objects must be stored in a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment to protect the materials from decay. Similarly, if you have a collection of vintage vinyl recordings, you’re going to want to store them in a place that will discourage warping.

Valuable possessions such as jewelry or chinaware should be stored securely to guard against theft, damage or even breakage.  The more secure and protected the assets already are, the better you preserve them from lost value.

Have you had them valued recently?

There are many factors that affect value and having an expert help you is the way to be sure you know their value.  For example, if you have a vintage ring, the value may vary depending on the buyer. But once the ring is assigned an appraised value, that value is set for you to insure it for that value. So if the object becomes lost, stolen, or destroyed, you can receive the full appraised value of the asset if insured properly.

If it’s been awhile since that last time you had your legacy collection appraised, you may want to opt for a reappraisal. It is suggested a reappraisal of high-value assets every 3 years to keep up with increasing values. But different items fluctuate based on silver and gold value but also supply and demand.  Failing to get your heirloom collection regularly valued could mean that your current insurance policy is undervaluing your assets.

Insuring Your Legacy

There are several steps you can take today to help ensure that your family’s legacy remains protected for tomorrow.

Evaluate your assets. Take a moment to make a list of those items that are truly important to you and your family. Think about those items that would be irreplaceable in the event of theft or loss. This will be the core items of your legacy list.

Get an appraisal. Once you’ve chosen the items you’d like to protect, it’s time to contact a reputable appraiser. An appraisal will assign permanent value to each asset for insurance purposes.

Check your homeowner’s policy. Check your current homeowner’s insurance policy to determine to what degree (if any) your heirlooms are covered. Standard home policies limit many items like jewelry, silver, stamps and coins and some even limit art.  You may need additional coverage to protect specific valuables.

Consider customized coverage to protect your assets. Not every policy fits every set of assets. Sometimes adding coverage to protect a specific or unusual heirloom is necessary.

At MAGIS, we pride ourselves on helping clients protect their assets including their collections.   Do you have a legacy collection you need to safeguard? Is your current homeowner’s policy insufficient to protect your valuables?  Come talk with us. Our seasoned professionals can assess your current coverage, spot vulnerabilities, and help you give your legacy the air-tight protection it deserves. Contact us today!