Fate of J. Littlefield Collection?

[Alan Smith]

The recent post, below, regarding the issues being raised by Polish authorities as to the Panther tank in Mr. Littlefield's collection prompts me to ask a question that I have had since his unfortunate passing: what was Mr. Littlefield's intent as to the disposition of his collection upon his death?

Did he make arrangements for the collection to be maintained intact? If so, is the collection to be open to the public?

Did he intend for the collection to be sold off so that other collectors in the U.S. and around the World can enjoy the items?

Possibly he undertook no estate planning re: his collection, so that it is simply property of his estate and (presumably) to be distributed to his heirs per his will or applicable laws of intestate succession?

[babyteeth]

This is the letter posted after his death. As far as i know nothing has changed.

Letter from the President
Military Vehicle Technology Foundation
January 20, 2009

Portola Valley, Ca

Dear Friends of the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation,

I am sad to announce that our long-time friend, the Foundation’s founder, Jacques Littlefield, passed away on January 7, 2009. Shortly before his final hours he indicated satisfaction with the status and accomplishments of the Foundation and its most recent project, the just completed German Panther.

Jacques acquired his first full-sized military vehicle, an M3A1 wheeled scout car, in 1975. By the late 1990s as the collection became more significant, he started to plan for its longer term preservation. In 1998, he created the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation (MVTF) as a non-profit corporation. The mission of the MVTF is to collect, preserve, restore, document and display armored fighting vehicles and their associated equipment. The MVTF serves the interests of authors, historians, educators, the defense industry, veterans' groups, model makers and the entertainment industry.

Over the last few years, Jacques and the board of directors had many discussions about the future of the MVTF. He made it clear that he wanted the Foundation and its activities to continue after his death. Last week, his children agreed that the Foundation should continue to develop, preserve and display the vehicles and the current items will be named the Jacques M. Littlefield Collection. Jacques’ family, the staff of the MVTF, and the board were all greatly heartened by the expressions of interest in the future of the MVTF following the announcement of his death.

The Board of Directors of the MVTF met following Jacques’ death and elected new officers to continue his work. With the agreement and support of Jacques’ children, the MVTF will continue to be housed at its current location in the hills above Portola Valley. Access to the collection by interested researchers and groups remains a critical element to continuing to fulfill the MVTF charter and mission. Therefore, many restoration projects, display enhancements and the tours will continue.

In his will, Jacques created an endowment for the MVTF that will allow us time to transition to a self sustaining organization. The Board and the friends of the MVTF now have the opportunity and substantial responsibility to increase the endowment and manage the operating costs to ensure that Jacques' legacy collection continues to be available to provide its unique contributions.

If you would like to make a donation to the MVTF in Jacques’ memory and help preserve, display and have access to the Jacques M. Littlefield Collection, please consider sending a contribution to:

MVTF
P.O. Box 7390
Menlo Park, CA 94026

The MVTF is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)3 corporation. Donations are considered fully tax-deductible as allowed by law.

I hope you will join us in preserving and advancing Jacques’ legacy.

Sincerely,

William A. (Bill) Boller
President, Military Vehicle Technology Foundation

Email addresses:

To make arrangements for tours: tours.mvtf@gmail.com

To arrange access to the collection for commercial purposes: permissions.mvtf@gmail.com

For any other issues: inquiries.mvtf@gmail.com

[Alan Smith]

Good information - thanks. Based on the 501(c)(3) Foundation's letter, my interpretation is that Mr. Littlefield's estate (i.e. his children) retain ownership of all of the vehicles, with said vehicles being on loan to the Foundation (such is typical of these types of non-profit foundations). Also, it sounds like Mr. Littlefield left some assets to the Foundation to help sustain it (i.e. operating expenses, preservation costs/maintenance of the vehicles, etc.), but that the Foundation will eventually have to generate enough funds to maintain its own existance, i.e. that Mr. Littlefield's estate won't fund it in perpetuity.

Bottom line: it sounds like Mr. Littlefield's children own the vehicles and it will be up to them as to whether and/or for how long the Foundation holds the vehicles, with the ultimate disposition of the vehicles being up to the children at any time they may choose to exercise their ownership rights in the vehicles.

Again, this is just my interpretation of the situation, based on the Foundation's letter and what I know about the typical setup of 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations that are used to house large private collections of valuable historical artifacts. Also, my guess is that Mr. Littlefield's children are probably not very happy about the legal expenses they will incur in dealing with the Polish claims to the Panther, and this expense may (??) sour their enthusiasm for mainaining the collection.

[Bob Carter]

....Being that Littlefields' father is listed as #113 in Forbes list of the richest 400 people in the world, I doubt they would even fell the pinch ...