What happens when a client's estate planning goes beyond conventional assets such as a home, financial accounts and business interests, but also includes prized works of art, gold bars or a private plane? How about, especially in recent years, valuable crypto assets that exist digitally but not physically? How do we treat assets that may be or have been illegal to own, like ivory or ancient artifacts?

To a great extent, "special" assets undergo the same legal analysis as conventional assets, whereby we ask the clients: who should inherit these assets (their children, institutions or charities, etc.); whether any conditions should apply (e.g., specific ages of inheritance; life estates retained by the grantor), and what are the values of the assets for estate tax considerations?

Special assets, however, also have their own special considerations, such as: How does the heir physically take possession of a wall-size, exceedingly expensive Rothko? What if the beneficiary of millions of dollars worth of bitcoin lacks an understanding of crypto currencies? Is it better for the executor or trustee to sell the yacht for cash and distribute the cash, rather than giving the yacht to a beneficiary who lives far from the water?