ESTATE PLANNING FOR COLLECTORS: Preserving Art and Legacy Through Strategic Succession
With 35 years of global experience, we support collectors in planning the future of their art collections with clarity, neutrality, and discretion. We offer strategic advice to ensure your artworks are curated, valued, and passed on according to your family’s legacy.
My unique expertise blends Art History with Business, enabling me and my team to navigate the complexities of ownership, curation and succession, while shaping a clear structure that informs and supports the work of legal and tax professionals, with impartiality and a focus on your best interests.
We work as part of a global and multidisciplinary effort, collaborating closely with a trusted network of legal and tax professionals to ensure every aspect of your collection is properly addressed. This integrated approach offers clients fair valuations, transparency, and a long-term perspective on preserving both artistic and familial goals.
We specialise in wealth and legacy planning, ensuring each collection is ready to be passed on to future generations. With decades of experience across Europe, Asia, and the US, we offer tailored services in curation, valuation, private sales and strategic transition planning.
Whether the goal is to preserve the collection as a whole, to prepare it for sale or to divide it meaningfully among heirs, we provide expert guidance aligned with your values and vision.
At the core of our work is a commitment to preserving not just the financial value of art, but also the emotional and cultural connections behind each piece, ensuring your collection continues to enrich lives for generations to come.
Legacy Stories - Collector’s Notebook:
A real case study, discreetly anonymised - illustrating the complexity and clarity of cross-border legacy planning.
When Art Crosses Borders and Generations. From Brussels to Paris: Orchestrating a Seamless Legacy
The context
A Belgian-French couple, living between Brussels and Paris, had spent years building a collection that was as eclectic as it was deeply personal: modern paintings, contemporary photography, and 20th-century design pieces.
A living ensemble, rich with meaning, spread across several residences, including a home in Switzerland and therefore subject to three jurisdictions, three customs regimes, and three distinct fiscal realities.
As they approached a major life transition, a central question emerged: How could they structure, protect, and pass on this collection without fragmenting it or freezing its spirit?
Our approach
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Carried out a comprehensive mapping of the collection, alongside a legal and fiscal diagnosis tailored to each territory.
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Reviewed provenance and documentation with certain works acquired in the 1980s lacking formal certificates.
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Worked in close collaboration with a Belgian notary, a French lawyer and a Swiss tax adviser to align the transmission strategy with each country’s legal framework.
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Provided strategic guidance for a partial museum donation, along with recommendations for a future catalogue raisonné reflecting both the couple’s vision and the story behind the collection.
The outcome
A clarified and structured collection, respectful of the couple’s cultural ties, now ready to begin its second life, through private legacy, institutional visibility, and carefully managed valuation.
What does this story reveal?
That while art may travel, it does not do so unprepared.
And when it comes to legacy, the most enduring work is often the one shaped with intention.
We remain at your disposal to welcome your enquiries & offer
tailor-made solution: +32 476 368 762
Please click here : sterenn@sterenndenys.com