A large percentage of my clients, want to leave at least some specific personal items to a specific person or persons.  These may be family heirlooms; a collection; a piece of jewelry; an automobile; etc.  I caution against specifically mentioning them in a will or a trust because frequently people change their minds or they no longer own the asset at their death because they have given it away.  In the event the client wishes to change his or her mine, he or she has to call the lawyer and have the lawyer prepare an amendment to the trust or a codicil to the will.  This becomes expensive and is great for attorneys, but not so great for the clients.

As I have written before, many disputes in California probate involve the disposition of personal items.  Therefore it is important to set forth a disposition of assets.  The California Probate Code sets forth a relatively simple way to accomplish this task.  Probate Code Section 6132 was passed by the legislature in 2006, signed by the governor that year and went into effect January 1, 2007. 

Section 6132 permits an individual to “direct disposition of tangible personal property not otherwise specifically disposed of by the will, except for money that is common coin or currency and property used primarily in a trade or business.”  This writing “is effective if all of the following conditions are satisfied:

            “(1)      An unrevoked will refers to the writing.

            (2)        The writing is dated and is either in the handwriting of, or signed by, the testator.

            (3)        The writing describes the items and the recipients of the property with reasonable certainty.”

The section further provides that the “writing may be written or signed before or after the execution of the will” and “the testator may make subsequent handwritten or signed changes”. 

This writing is useful, but for people with large amounts of personal property, one needs to be careful because:

            The total value of tangible personal property identified and disposed of in the writing shall not exceed twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000).  If the value of an item of tangible personal property described in the writing exceeds five thousand dollars ($5,000), that item shall not be subject to this section and that item shall be disposed of pursuant to the remainder clause of the will.”

The intent of this statute is to make things easier for people.  You should always contact a California estate planning attorney to make sure that you are doing things correctly and you still need to have a will that refers to the writing or list.