If you die tomorrow does your family know what to do with your guns?

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George Dickel

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I don't have a large collection of guns and scopes but they are worth around $8K. Not a fortune but nothing I want to see an individual take advantage of my widow and buy them at theft level prices. I have made a list of my stuff and what I think they are worth at the retail level and my wife knows where it is kept. She understands that it isn't practical to plan on getting full retail but it gives her an idea of what would be a reasonable offer. It isn't a pleasurable idea to think about your demise but I've had a few friends die over the last year, two who died suddenly with no warning. Another friend is in the hospital right now and has thankfully gotten better but last Thursday night night he was transferred to ICU and the family called in and told he might not make morning. He owns some very collectable and valuable firearms but his wife doesn't have the combination to his gun safe. His safe is an older model but is built like Fort Knox and would require a major effort to get it open. I guess my age has be thinking more about how much time I have left but when I peruse the obituaries in the newspaper there a whole lot of folks taking a dirt nap who were much younger than me.
 
I have memorandum for the disposition of certain personal belongings on file with my will. It includes my firearms, ammo and assorted kit.
 
I told mine sell everything and get what you can get. I don't want them playing the auction game when they could just get rid of them and be done with it. I'm in the same boat as OP with about that amount in firearms. IMO I wouldn't want them to have to haggle with anyone.
 
George Dickel said:
I have made a list of my stuff and what I think they are worth at the retail level and my wife knows where it is kept. She understands that it isn't practical to plan on getting full retail but it gives her an idea of what would be a reasonable offer.
Click to expand...

I've taken that a step further by including a photo of each firearm and a list of whatever accessories may go with it.
 
We don't sell guns, only buy and trade. It's just how my family has always been.

I've told my children (two boys and one girl) that any particular firearm they want to let me know and the ones they have I've relayed to both my wife and other children to insure everyone knows and to hopefully avoid any fighting later. Any that aren't claimed all go to my oldest son who is free to distribute to his siblings as he sees fit.
 
I was just thinking about this myself due to an upcoming surgery. I have only about 20 guns, but lots of accessories and reloading gear for each one as well as a complete woodworking shop in the back yard. If I die my wife has no clue what all I have, where it all is, and what any of it is worth. I’m meeting with a friend soon to discuss him selling it all off and what he gets for his troubles.
 
Started doing my will a few years ago and now that I'm retired I can finally have time to finish it up. Basically my son gets everything and that will be made clear in a will. He pretty much knows what to do already including the transfer of a couple handguns that should stay in the family to my younger sister who has a permit and can legally own them. Anything that gets sold will get a professional appraisal first. How many times have you heard of a widow selling one of her late husband's guns for peanuts. Not that my wife even wants to do that. She'd rather have my son handle it and that's the way I want it anyway.
 
I’m very lucky. My family is very close. My brother is my best friend. We do NOT fight over possessions. My brother gets my modest collection. Should I ever have children, and I pass before they are of age, my brother will be the caretaker until my child(ren) is old enough to decide if they want them. If not, they are my brothers to keep and pass down to his children. We don’t sell guns from family. Hence why I have that original Colt 3rd Model Dragoon that my great great grandfather used in the Civil War sitting in my safe right now. It’s worth quite a bit of money. And right now I could sure use the money. But it will NEVER be sold.

I have seen death and fighting over possessions rip families apart. That is not my family. I know because we’ve been there already and we passed that test with flying colors.
 
My family has always passed them down. My Dad gave each of us something that was our Great-grandfather's. I have a couple from his collection that he doesn't shoot and wanted me to have. I will do the same. If I died suddenly my brothers would help my wife take care of everything.
 
My kids N grandkids will be VERY good caretakers.They're all already well hooked up shooters.Same thing with our shop equipment.Take what they want,sell or give away the rest.It's all paid for and has made WAY more $$ than invested....and then there's 40 years worth of building and collecting period furniture and antiques.

Wifey and I are already giving them pcs,and they DO appreciate it.We have a significant number of late 18th century pcs that have been in the family......the kids love them and will be very responsible in their preservation.
 
I had a close friend pass on several years ago. His shooting buddies got to his widow pretty quickly and got most of his guns and the best reloading equipment for literally peanuts. I sat down with her and went through his reloading accessories and ammo (lots of that) and gave her an estimate of retail value, and what we could sell it for at a gun show and make it move. My estimate of $8500 was within $300 of what we actually sold it for, and I took nothing for myself. I simply rented a table at a local gun show and priced everything about 30% below current value and moved 90% of it in 2 days. She ad her son were very pleased with the results.
I have made a list of my guns and current value and my wife has that so she should be OK. I would caution everyone to remember that accessories such as parts and magazines can be worth quite a lot of money as well. Don't overlook all that stuff in figuring value.
 
I'm not going to die with any. At least that's the wife's plan. My wife wants me to sell them all before I croak so she won't have to deal with it.

My question to her was how could she be so sure I would die before she does?:D
 
No, and I need to remedy this.
Like a few have mentioned, our family passes firearms down, and I plan to do the same. My wife will be taken care of with the life insurance policy so she won't have to sell stuff off to survive.
I don't have a son, but I have a couple of nephews who love to hunt and shoot that will get some of them.

Hopefully I live to be an old man and one day (many years from now) bounce a grandson on my knee, and eventually leave him a few.

However this will only be an issue if a tragedy happens and I go unexpectedly. If my plan to live a long life goes as planned, I will give them away before the time comes so I can see the joy they will bring their recipients.

Good idea for a thread. It may not be pleasant to think or talk about, but we're all going to die someday and poor planning is....................well poor planning.
 
Yes, leaving some instructions seems a good plan. Instructions contain a couple of contacts to help with the selling of them. As we say here, I wish she only will not sell the guns at the price I told her I paid for them :)
 
Have a will. My wife is to sell or do as she wishes. I have told her to have my nephew check each firearm as some are loaded for various reasons before removing them. In case of both, the executor is to auction with the rest of he farm to pay off any outstanding bills. We have no children.
 
Arkansas Paul said:
No, and I need to remedy this.
Like a few have mentioned, our family passes firearms down, and I plan to do the same. My wife will be taken care of with the life insurance policy so she won't have to sell stuff off to survive.
I don't have a son, but I have a couple of nephews who love to hunt and shoot that will get some of them.

Hopefully I live to be an old man and one day (many years from now) bounce a grandson on my knee, and eventually leave him a few.

However this will only be an issue if a tragedy happens and I go unexpectedly. If my plan to live a long life goes as planned, I will give them away before the time comes so I can see the joy they will bring their recipients.

Good idea for a thread. It may not be pleasant to think or talk about, but we're all going to die someday and poor planning is....................well poor planning.
Click to expand...


Like you, I have no children at this time, but very much hope that the future will bring kids who can someday enjoy my collection, and eventually inherit it (hopefully many, many years from now).

I have no formal instructions for my collection in the interim. It started out small and inconsequential a couple of decades back, but it has grown to be more valuable and impressive as the years have gone by and my income has gone up (I'm not rich now, but I sure couldn't buy much on a college student's income back in the day). My wife is gun knowledgeable, and that helps. She shoots some pistol, owns a couple, and has been POST (law enforcement) certified in our state in the past. While she's not an enthusiast like I am, she does know her way around the guns. She's also responsible for having bought probably 3 out of 4 of my most valuable guns as gifts for me at one time or another. As such, I feel I can count on her to properly deal with the collection if I go before she does. At the very least, I doubt she'd get fleeced if she chose to sell any of them, and that helps me sleep well at night.
 
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