What would your family do with your collection after you die?

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N9NWO

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Every man's fear is that the wife will sell the guns/fishing equipment/ham radios for what he TOLD her he paid for it!

Does your wife and children have an idea of what you have, what they are worth and who get what items? And how to dispose of those items that the family does not want?

I have noticed that firearm auctions bring far more money than selling to a dealer.

Any thoughts?
 
They'll keep a couple and most likely sell the rest; unless I start selling more of them now for cash to buy something higher end and different
 
My sons will divide up most, a good friend will get a Mosin he cherishes, and SWMBO will get one of my ARs and my 1911. I should probabaly put this in writing. Hey, Spats, Frank, could one of you notarize this post and make it stick in court? :)

I'm taking mine with me!!!!:mad: :fire: ....... :neener: ;):rofl:
I plan on taking a sword, seax, and axe with me, and a hauberk and spangenhelm, if ever get around to getting those two.
 
If I know my time is coming to an end (old age, disabling disease), I'll start handing out some of my collection to family members that show interest and sell off most of the others.

If my demise is sudden, I made a list for my wife of what I have with the dates of purchase and the amount paid, with some wording that future value will likely be different, etc., etc.

I expect my wife will sell my collection, so I also put on that list the names of two trusted people for her to contact to help her sell what I have. With a stipulation that the person that helps her gets to pick and keep one rifle and one handgun for doing the work.

That's as it stands now. If I reduce my collection by a large amount, I'll rewrite the details.
 
My family doesn't care much about them, but I have a single friend who likes them in the same way I do. They'll go to him. Sure ,I'm only 21, but genetics aren't doing me a favor.

Baby sister will get the M70 pistol she likes so much.
 
I've been downsizing for several years......had a few junkers that came to me over the years, nobody interested in consignment so I used a PS buy back program got $800 in Walmart/ Sams gift cards !
Bought a bunch of shotgun shells and whiskey, for tired bones after chasing quail,, good trade....
One, a Colt Viper turned out to be valuable, a gift from an old secretary, sold it for $3500, would have given to her but she's passed away.....know what you have before you commit to a sale!
 
My "plan" is to die with a singular handgun.
I will disperse all to the family members that wants them/can own them. I know my grandson is into guns and my youngest brother (34yr age difference) but my daughter and other grandkids are not.

If I die today then there is a thumb drive with everything needed for my survivors to cash everything out and a Excel file that is up to date with the guns/serial#'s/$ paid. So surviving members have an idea.
 
I don't have a candidate to inherit my rather extensive collection. (My wife certainly isn't interested.) So, logically, it would make sense to start to liquidate some of my collection before I get much older (I'm 76 now). The problem is the capital gains tax. It would be substantial, because there is a lot of unrealized appreciation there (thanks, Hughes Amendment!). At least if I die still owning them, there will be a stepped-up basis and no tax will be owed.
 
Every man's fear is that the wife will sell the guns/fishing equipment/ham radios for what he TOLD her he paid for it!
Once again N9NWO - nonsense. Maybe some men, maybe even most men lie to their wives about what they pay for "guns/fishing equipment/ham radios," but not "every" man does. I don't.
Besides that, my wife is the one that ordered my Shiloh-Sharps .45-110 for me for our 25th wedding anniversary (25 years ago BTW) so I have to assume she knows what she paid for it. But if she doesn't remember, I'm sure she can look it up because she's a great Records Retention Specialist - that was part of her job during her working years.
My wife also knows about what I paid for every gun I've ever bought for her, like the Ruger "American Rimfire" .22LR I bought for her birthday last year. Like me, she is a guns and hunting enthusiast, and she has just as many guns as I do - maybe more. I know for sure she has more fishing equipment than I do. I don't like fish or fishing - she does.
At any rate, to answer your question - I figure if I die before my wife, she would probably disperse my favorite guns amongst family members - one of our two daughters is into guns and hunting just like her mom, and all 3 of her sons (she doesn't have any daughters) are too. Our other daughter, the one that is a wheel with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, doesn't hunt (I don't know where we went wrong with that girl;)), so I doubt my wife would give her one of my hunting guns. She might give her one of my self/home defense handguns though. Or maybe she would give her a shotgun. As for the rest of my guns, especially the ones with no sentimental attachments, my wife would probably sell them.
It would be the same way if my wife went before me. It would be hard, but I'd probably give her favorite guns to our daughters and grandsons. For that matter, our hunting daughter already has one of my wife's 7mm-08s, and her oldest son (our oldest grandson) already has my wife's other 7mm-08.
My wife's favorite hunting rifle now is a highly customized M-70 Winchester 7mm Rem Mag. That would probably be the rifle that would be hard for me to part with if my wife went first.:uhoh:
 
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My "plan" is to die with a singular handgun.
I will disperse all to the family members that wants them/can own them. I know my grandson is into guns and my youngest brother (34yr age difference) but my daughter and other grandkids are not.

If I die today then there is a thumb drive with everything needed for my survivors to cash everything out and a Excel file that is up to date with the guns/serial#'s/$ paid. So surviving members have an idea.
I have a little acquisition/disposal book put out by Bianchi about 35 years ago. Type, caliber, price paid, sold price, special features, etc. Hidden away so a thief won't find it, but the kids know where it is.

Some of my guns, like my HK P7s have soared in value recently. I can sell one for more than I pad for two of them - but they're just so cool to shoot.
 
Well, the simple answer is to write out a Will.
If you simply write it out on a pad of lined paper and put it in a folder labeled "In the Event of my Death" that "counts" (it can be contested, ut that's a different situation).
You can use one of the online or similar "will makers" mind, if you don't submit to the County Clerk (or how ever such things are filed in your County & State), then it does not "count" if contested.
Dropping a dime or two on a lawyer versed in such things still remains the better way.

That's also because wills tend to be fail-safe. A person can plan to pass with only one firearm, but that presumes that they will be able to predict that ending. Sadly, calamity can strike without warning.

That's 2¢ spend it well. You do you.

I've considered this situation more than a little of late. I'm about the last of my family (definietly the last of direct blood); have provided for godchildren and all, but, that does not cover everything. I need to tighten some of the instructions and codicils up again. Sigh. C'est la vie.
 
OP, I keep a personal inventory of what I have and what it is 'worth' based on the current market. I don't update this all that often, but I try to keep it going. I keep this inventory with my other financial documents.

As I have no children, and have no desire to reverse that status, my firearms are to be handed down to either my sister's children or my cousin's children. There is a decent tradition of handing down firearms in the family, ironically started by someone who didn't care for firearms, and we shall keep it going!

I'd also echo .308 Norma's sentiment here. I am bluntly honest regarding all of my expenses with my partner, as she is with me. We don't hide anything from each other, good or bad, and it really is a good way to live.
 
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Every man's fear is that the wife will sell the guns/fishing equipment/ham radios for what he TOLD her he paid for it!

Does your wife and children have an idea of what you have, what they are worth and who get what items? And how to dispose of those items that the family does not want?

I have noticed that firearm auctions bring far more money than selling to a dealer.

Any thoughts?
I have never lied to my Wife about a gun purchase or tried to "Sneak one by Her." That's childish in the extreme. Like a Kid hiding something from his Parents. I keep an inventory with current prices so She and my Son will have at least a rough idea of their worth. Covid has made prices on guns go way up and don't forget ammunition! I see grown men giggling about "?Putting one over on the Old Lady. Pitiful. My Wife come home and tells me she bought a antique Rocking Chair for $1500.00. All I say is "Will it fit in the SUV or do I need the trailer?" Heck, she bought me a Springfield Arms Hellcat for Christmas.
 
Vague hopes: I live another 10-20 years.

The boy child is old enough he has interest. He gets to keep those he cares about.

NFA devices are owned by the company, so he gets added to that once of legal age. No transfer needed, and he and the wife can divest them on any timeline as needed.

If anything isn't much wanted by anyone, or the kid is too young etc. and I know I am dying beforehand, I'll start carefully selling on various fora where people know what things are, and are not, and try to get as much money as I can for the family as well as making sure all of it goes to a good home.

If I die suddenly, I have a few friends and the wife knows which forums I am very well known on, so I'd probably get some giveaways (or sales hopefully) to friends, then they would arrange sales or even a private "garage sale" to get rid of the rest. I have a LOT of other gear and accessories, so something like the LGS taking the collection for sale or auction would leave a lot of stuff and value on the table.
 
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