>Our museum has been named as beneficiary in a will and was to receive an
>original piece of art stated to value a relatively large sum. Accompanying
>legal documented required (requested) a notarized signature etc. etc. Yet
>in the text of the documents the museum would have agreed , that in case
>of debt or obligation of the estate of the deceased that might come to
>light sometime in the next (7?) years, we agree to return not the art but
>the stated value of the art in money. We haven't signed. Is this common?
>Sounds like bad news to me. The executors of the estate have indicated
>some lack of experience in this regard of leaving art to museums. Anyone
>out there have any experience with these circumstances?
>
>Carol Morgan
>Director: Demuth Foundation
>Lancaster, PA
>
>E-mail: Carol [log in to unmask]

Don't do this!!!! If you really want the artwork, perhaps you can make some
arrangement to have it donated to you after the seven years (?) have
passed. You do not want the cost of storing something nor really yours, and
you do not want to have to deaccession something which may or may not be
worth that much at the end of the time span.
Ivy Fleck Strickler                     Phone 215-895-1637
Drexel University                       Fax 215-895-4917
Nesbitt College of Design Arts          [log in to unmask]
Philadelphia, PA 19104

"Never forget that life is like a Fellini movie, and you're getting to see
it for free."