Most of us, at various points, are called upon to advise, often as an executor, for an estate. Even if it is not our own family, people in the antiques world often find themselves tagged for advice about what to do with family treasures. While there are a myriad of topics that can come up in regard to estates, the one that I always dread is when the family believes, because their deceased family member told them so, that a certain object or collection is worth a fortune. Now of course, there are some collections that do tend to be worth a lot. Antiques Roadshow is filled with trash-to-treasure stories of family heirlooms that are wonderful. But what viewers dont see are the vastly larger group of people who have family items that turn out to be worth very little. How come? First is the belief that because things are old, they must be valuable. I call this family Bible syndrome. I have a family Bible from back in the 1800s, and that must be worth a lot! Well, so did everyone else, and that makes family Bibles not too high on the intrinsically valuable meter unless they are by a very rare printer or were hand illuminated. Second is that the elderly owner was told by their friend/neighbor/college roommate that their treasure is valuable. I have seen this happen over and over again. Sadly, the local expert is generally not there when it comes to putting money where their mouth is. When they say, My neighbor said he would give me $500 for this item, so why cant you, I really want to tell them to run as fast as they can to find that neighbor and take their $500, because the item is not worth that much. Third is that the owner who purchased a particular collectible based on marketing and media hype believed that it could only grow in value. Regular readers have heard me expound upon this kind of deceptive buying. The reality is that such speculative buying of collectibles and future antiques rarely if ever results in a profit. More often than not, it results in a loss. While all of these are tough conversations with anyone in the general public, you can effectively double the tension on this when you factor in a familys grief at the loss of a loved one. Thus you are having to explain this to a tearful family member whose grandmother bought limited-edition collectibles which their neighbor said were worth a fortune and are now valueless. Or that the cracked Victorian era bowl, while old, is probably best only for feeding a cat. Estates are tough on families. Death is tough enough, but the business after death is even harder. For those of us in the antiques trade, we need to remember that and learn to have the patience and kindness needed in dealing with bereavement. And for the family, it is a lesson to be learned about doing estate planning in advance and perhaps not listening to the neighbors so intently. Born to collect should be the motto of Peter Seiberts family. Raised in Central Pennsylvania, Seibert has been collecting and writing about antiques for more than three decades. By day, he is a museum director and has worked in Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Virginia and New Mexico. In addition, he advises and consults with auction houses throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, particularly about American furniture and decorative arts. Seiberts writings include books on photography, American fraternal societies and paintings. He and his family are restoring a 1905 arts and crafts house filled with years worth of antique treasures found in shops, co-ops and at auctions.