Ask "The Garage Sale Millionaire"

Divorce sucks; there’s no two ways about it. According to the United States Census Bureau (www.census.gov) in their 2001 SIPP (Survey of Income and Participation Program) Report (Table 4), found in adults 25 years of age and older, marriage for 41.7% of men and about 46.6% of women ended in divorce. If this happens to you, and you become part of this ever-growing club, what happens to your collectibles? According to Jack Tanner of Fairfield and Woods, one of the oldest law firms in Denver (founded in 1934), “If you purchase a collectible before you get married, you get to keep it.” It also means that if the collectible’s value has risen since you’ve gotten married, the additional value of your collectable may come into contention with your partner.

1. Before you get married -- or during the course of becoming married -- you should make an exhaustive list of the collectibles that were purchased before the date of your marriage. Include this ‘collectables list’ with all the proper receipts and appraisals. Include any collectibles that were received as gifts prior to the marriage as they are not property of the marriage but property belonging solely to you. Keep this list in a private location, like in a personal safety deposit box.
2. Make sure that you have a special rider on your insurance policy covering all of your collectables. It’s common knowledge – and sometimes all too unfortunate -- that when divorce happens, partners can become particularly upset and vengeful (and sometimes downright violent). As a result, breakage, theft, or overall destruction could occur to your precious, beautiful, and valuable collectibles.
3. If divorce does indeed happen, make sure you and/or your attorney hires someone who is truly qualified to appraise your collection. Do not accept your partner’s appraiser; make sure you hire one of your own appraisers. All too many times people have brought in appraisers who know very little about specific collectibles and give an uneducated, and thus incorrect, ballpark value of the collectible or collection. For example, it’s not just as basic as collecting a piece of “ordinary” sports memorabilia. Many aspects of a collectable, in this case sports, must be accounted for by the Appraiser. Aspects like historical significance, whom the collectable is about, how does the collectable fit into the grand scale of the sport due to a specific event, why it’s collectable, etc. The point is to get someone who knows the area in which the collectable resides so a proper valuation can be made. Appraising your collectables from a knowledgeable Appraiser correctly determines current value while providing a fair division of property.
4. When divvying up the collection, know that not every collectible goes up in value. So, if you’re going to fight over a collectable, make sure it is a collectible you are really willing to fight over because it may be replaced for a lot less after the divorce is finalized.
5. To protect yourself completely, two words: Prenuptial Agreement. Even if you use this just to protect your collectables or a collection, you will not lose any collectibles that were purchased before the marriage or lose the additional value that the specific collectible or collection has increased during the duration of the marriage.
6. If all else fails, and for some this may be a last resort, try to reason with your partner about keeping your collection intact. Your partner is entitled to half of the monetary value not necessarily half of the collection. To insure your collectables stay together, make reasonable tradeoffs and compromises. Remember, if you lie about what you have, this is considered fraud. If convicted of fraud, you could possibly lose every collectable you’ve worked so hard in acquiring during the many years you’ve spent as a collector.

Missing just one of these steps could cost you tens of thousands, and sometimes millions of dollars, depending on the quality of your collectables; in addition to everything else you stand to lose from the end of your marriage. Divorce is never fun, but getting divorced and losing your whole set of priceless collectibles makes it exponentially painful. You must make sure you’re prepared. Unfortunately love does not always last forever; but your collectibles can. Do everything you can to protect them.

Aaron LaPedis is the owner of Fascination St. Gallery and can be seen on PBS Channel 6 and is the author of a new book “The Garage Sale Millionaire”. To contact Aaron, please email him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .