A Blessing or a Curse?

Jaye Smith's mother, Carol Carlisle, collected hundreds of photos over her career as a photographer and managing editor of Popular Photography. CreditTina Fineberg for The New York Times

Paul Sullivan's article in yesterday's New York Times, "A Weighty Responsibility of Inheriting a Collection," vividly illustrates the dilemmas of inheriting art estates without a plan. He writes of Jaye Smith, whose mother left a significant photography collection behind: "Ms. Smith’s inheritance is unique in the value of the works she didn’t know about in her mother’s attic. But her initial feeling of being overwhelmed and uncertain about what to do with a family member’s collection, whether valuable or sentimental, is not." I am delighted to be educating artists, their families and collectors, about strategies for planning their legacies so the responsibility for future generations does not become a weighty burden.