What Serious Sports Fans Should Know About Estate Planning. You want your children and grandchildren to love the game as much as you do. In your family, being a football fan means more than buying team jerseys and gathering around the television on a Sunday afternoon. You take great joy in being at the games, and you are a proud season ticket holder. You know how hard season tickets are to get, and you don’t want to see them go back into the general pool when you die. Instead, you want to keep those tickets in the family.
Can You Bequest Your Season Tickets?
If you own season tickets, it’s likely that you won’t be able to leave them in your will as you would money, property, or personal belongings. Many professional teams have specific transfer policies attached to their season tickets. For example, some teams:
- Require specific procedures to be followed if you transfer the tickets during your lifetime or in your estate.
- State outright that their season tickets aren’t the property of the season ticket holder of record and can’t be transferred to someone else through a will or trust.
- Only allow you to transfer the tickets to certain close relatives such as your spouse or children.
It is important to remember that each team has specific policies. Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Football League (NFL), and other professional leagues do not set the transfer policies. Accordingly, it is important to find out the exact terms of your season tickets contract with the Anaheim Angels, L.A. Dodgers, San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders, or any other California sports team.
It Is Important to Tell Your Estate Planning Lawyer About Your Season Tickets
What Serious Sports Fans Should Know About Estate Planning. You don’t have to invite your attorney to a game, but you should have him read the fine print of your tickets, so that you can make sure the transfer happens according to the terms of your season tickets contract. For more tips about estate planning in California, please watch our free videos, or browse our articles.