Heirloom Jewelry Passed on to Direct Descendants

Dear Dr. Dave and Dr. Dee,

My husband was given his mother's wedding ring set and some other jewelry. Is there an etiquette or protocol on who gets what - wife, daughter, or son?

Signed,

Wondering

Dear Wondering,

The wedding ring set and any other heirloom jewelry traditionally stays within the family of direct descendants. So, your daughter and son can be given the pieces of jewelry, and then they may pass them on to their son or daughter.

If there are more children than there are heirloom jewelry pieces, then traditionally, the eldest daughter, and then the next eldest daughter, and so on, would receive pieces. However, rather than simply being determined by age or gender, decisions can be made based on other factors such as caring or close relationship to the deceased.