• 20
  • September
    2010

There are many reasons people create estate plans. For people with few assets, the primary priority may be reducing stress for their loved ones. However, for individuals with significant assets, estate planning is often about accomplishing important goals with those assets.

Dr. David A. Cofrin owned 312 pieces of Asian artwork when he passed away last year. At 88-years-old, he wanted to make sure that others would continue to appreciate the artwork he had collected. He effectively used his estate plan to ensure that the works he cared about so much would be put to good use.

Although it is easy to remember that estate plans can be used to distribute money to heirs or causes, they can also be used to distribute physical items such as artwork. In this situation, Dr. Cofrin used his will to donate all 312 works to the University of Florida's Harn Museum of Art.

Two years ago, Dr. Cofrin and his wife donated $10 million to be used for the construction of a new wing of the museum. This wing is to be dedicated to Asian art and will open in 2012. When it opens, the artwork that Dr. Cofrin left to the museum will be displayed in the wing he helped finance while he was alive.

In addition to the artwork that is in itself valued at over four million dollars, Dr. Cofrin also used his estate plan to establish a one million dollar endowment for the museum. That money is intended to allow the museum to continue acquiring Asian artwork in the future.

Source: The Gainesville Sun at Gainesville.com, "Art benefactor bequeaths $4.2 million in Asian art to Harn Museum," Nathan Crabbe, 23 Aug 2010