Sarah Constantine Talks Estate Planning for Art Collectors with Observer
Arnold & Porter Tax partner Sarah Constantine was recently quoted in the Observer article, “Estate Planning After a Lifetime of Collecting Art,” examining how collectors and their representatives can best navigate nuanced interests and obligations when planning for the future of their collections.
Sarah emphasized that conversations with collectors and heirs are a necessary first step in determining how to proceed.
“You never want to force an heir to receive an asset they don’t want,” she said. “If they want the asset, that’s great. They can keep it and enjoy it. [What you don’t want to do is] put some kind of restriction against selling it for 10 years.”
Sarah also highlighted that provisions like joint ownership can introduce complications.
By splitting ownership among siblings, for example, “you can get locked into this structure where you’re jointly owning a very expensive property and you can’t get out, or you’re just not going to be able to get the liquidity out of it you would want if you want to sell and your sibling doesn’t,” she said.
