From being an “object of passion”, collecting, in recent years, has increasingly taken on the guise of an investment asset in the contemporary market, making the need for careful planning of a heritage of value, both economic and affective, built up over time with hard work, dedication and skill, pressing. The underlying interest is twofold: the maintenance of historical continuity of value and unity of management in the long term of the assets forming the collection, on the one hand; the protection of the collector’s heirs, on the other. The legal answer that satisfies, in the most efficient way, this complex of needs is to be found in the Trust. The establishment of a Trust, irrespective of the assets forming the collection, allows: 1. the protection and management of this asset class that does not expose it to any professional or business risks, making it insensitive to the personal and legal events of the Settlor-Collector, the Trustee and the Beneficiaries; 2. a ‘tailor-made’ planning by the Settlor in the management of his collection, even after his death, formalised analytically in the Deed of Trust.

The Collector, for example, can plan: a) investment/disinvestment policies that allow a strategic and planned growth of his collection; b) the creation of dedicated spaces in which to place the collected works, establishing their terms and modalities, in order to allow their public, as well as private, enjoyment c) participation in exhibitions, shows, galleries in order to promote the dissemination of the collection in favour of the community; d) the use of the proceeds from the exhibition activity in order to maintain and restore the individual works; e) the provision of an ‘annuity’ for the benefit of his heirs (also) depending on the operational role played within the collection; 3. the unitary nature of the collection and, consequently, the preservation of its economic value, the Trustee becoming the sole owner of the assets forming part of the collection and being bound to act according to the rules laid down by the collector in the deed of institution; 4. the protection of the anonymity and secrecy of the collection. For example, the collection may be displayed in exhibitions in the name of the trust with full confidentiality of the Settlor and the Beneficiaries; 5. the unitary post-mortem destination of the collection within the family, ensuring continuity with future generations (or in accordance with a specific purpose).The Trust prevents those heirs disinterested in the care of the collection from coming into possession of it with the sole objective of monetisation, by allowing the Collector himself to specifically identify the recipients of his property who are actually eager to continue his work and to establish the time, conditions and manner of its assignment.