What happens when you're gone?
 

I lost all my rifles in a boating accident.

But I was thinking.... What happens to this obsession when we go? I'm young now, with a few small kids. Are these items that you just leave to the estate and let the kids worry about someday? Or stuff that you should specifically write down where each item goes to?

How would you handle it. It's safe to assume that not all of the kids (maybe none of them) will have any interest in my collections.

What's your plan?


-Jake

Accept Jesus Christ as Load and Savior. In paradise who has my earthly possessions, including guns, won't matter.

If you want to dump a mess on your kids (or whoever else handles your stuff), go for it.

I want to have everything in line as much as possible and keep things as simple as I can for them. One of the things that have frustrated about me growing up around Christians my entire life is the idea that "it doesn't matter once I'm gone."

Yes, it does. Part of being a Christian (and a good person in general) is taking care of our possessions and the earth around us. We aren't called to be slobs, but to be good stewards of what we've been blessed with.

But that's getting way off topic.

You don't care about what happens to any earthly possessions and will let whoever comes after you worry about them. Got it. That's definitely an option.

Partially due to the inherent risks of my job, I have what I consider to be a better plan in place. And I have things in order allot more than most others my age I believe, at least as far as insurance, college funds, etc.... But I haven't really included the firearms in that plan as of yet. And since they add up to a decent amount of money, they should be in the plan somehow.


-Jake

C120, there is a religion thread for your post, it doesn't belong here! If you want to Proselytize, go there.

OT, it does belong here.

I asked a question about what happens to possessions when I'm gone. He replied that " it doesn't matter to him" and provided the reason that it doesn't matter to him.

Your post however is off topic.

We won't be running off posts just because they include a religious opinion.

-Jake

Bocja, If you have specific people you want specific guns to go to, put it in your will, that is what I did, the rest can be disposed of as the Executor of the will sees fit. That is what I did. It would be helpful to make a list of firearms, descriptions and serial numbers and keep it in a safe place.

That;s what I was thinking.

Maybe put a few of the "special ones" directly to kids. Then sell the rest...or somehow allow the kids the option to purchase the rest from the estate or something. That way stuff is being divided equally.

There are a few, stuff that came from grandparents etc, that should stay in the family.

But I'm sure allot of them won't be of much interest just because they are things that specifically interest me.

Good advice thanks
-Jake

This is a great question, one that I've though about a lot. Dying without dealing with the valuable or beloved things we've accumulated can cause lots of work, things given away or sold for little, and family fueds. You're a wise young man to be considering this at your state of life.

As you approach your later years, perhaps think about getting rid of a lot of the toys you've accumulated and no longer need. For example, I already gave my valuable watch to my son. My wife is doing the same with her jewelry for our daughter. Why wait until we're gone to see them wearing and enjoying it.

I'm also starting to weed out many of my toys. Tools, hunting and fishing gear, an extensive r/c airplane collection, and my motorcycle, will go when my ability to use them diminishes. Most given to family and friends, the rest sold or donated.

I've helped many heartbroken and confused widows who had no idea how to dispose of this stuff. They knew how much these things meant to their husbands and were so afraid of doing the wrong thing or simply had no idea how to proceed.

I'm determined not to leave my family with this partiular problem.

guns are just like any other possession you have, if you DON"T SPELL out in some legal form in writing and you die, it will become a guessing game and maybe more often a FIGHTING battle of who gets what
from my experience nothing brings out the claws in family members more than a death and an estate with what THEY think are valuable items, be it in money value or sentimental value
I have seen so many familys torn up when someone p[asses and they fight /steal rob, sue for items that deceased person had, and its destroyed many a family along the way

so, yes if you want to be in charge of where your things go, you HAVE to have a legal document stating where your wishes are to go, be it a will, or like document
and EVEN then, there are some family members that will still fight it and try and contest a will
when ever possible, if you KNOW your time in near I strongly suggest you GIVE "X" items away to those you want to have them in advance of your passing, so that they GET THEM, and at times this is a double win, as many times you get to actually see "X" person's enjoy the things you give them and not just HOPE they do when you pass!

and a side note, anyone that has MANY firearms, IMO should look into actual firearms insurance, most would be very surprised to find out there home owners does NOT cover very much in the way of firearms , having had a gun shop for yrs, and hearing SO many folks that found out the hard way there guns were not fully covered or only a small portion of what they had, after a break in or fire or like disaster, when for a little more $$ they could have had actual gun insurance and been made whole again, rather than taking a beating on losses.

I also highly recommend owners keep a log book of there guns, serial numbers, basic info and value/worth, (good for when you pass and some creepy guy try's to scam your family out of them dirt cheap cause they don't know guns value's as you did(
adding a simple picture of said firearm and add on's too helps a ton in insurance claims too!

and last, just cause a family member isn't into guns or hunting, doesn';t mean they might not want a treasured item that belonged to YOU, for that sentimental reasons, more than cause they plan to use it!
and also, there are many good places one can leave guns to if they do not have family that hunts or shoots
like the NRA< and other like deals, or local gun clubs, that mentor kids into the sport, seeing that your guns end up in a hunters hands and maybe see continued use while your gone

This!

"I also highly recommend owners keep a log book of there guns, serial numbers, basic info and value/worth, (good for when you pass and some creepy guy try's to scam your family out of them dirt cheap cause they don't know guns value's as you did(
adding a simple picture of said firearm and add on's too helps a ton in insurance claims too!"

Lots of great advice here and I appreciate it.

To make a will, and supporting documents, legal.... Do they have to be done with a lawyer or filed with a court or notarized or anything like that?

I have a basic will typed up. It's really more of instructions on where certain accounts and insurance policies are and how to access them etc.

Should I be sitting down with a lawyer to get all of this stuff "official"

I'll be working on a spreadsheet with photos attached as some recommended for the guns.

-Jake

most states require a will to be filed and or notarized
the more you do to make sure its NOT able to be contested the better
I have seen filed will's get contested when a PERSON shows up with a SO called different WILL, and sadly even seen them win at times, as some times it sadly comes down to who has the most money to fight for things
deaths can really bring out the greed in people and ruin families

so, the more you do to MAKE it so every I is dotted and T crossed the better, and in today's world, I personally have used a lawyer to video tape things, its a LOT harder for a scammer to make a video with different plans that you do if you make one.
My lawyer told me this was rather common anymore, and never been easy, he keeps TWO copy's as do I
its sad we have to do these things, but that's sadly how it goes when folks die more often than you think!

My wife and I sat down with a lawyer and had a will drawn up. The lawyer has the will registered at the court house and does all the work. They keep a copy the court house keeps a copy and you get a copy. My wife and I decided to make a will so there would be no question about our wishes . I can't tell you how glad I was that my parents had a will. Just make sure you pick a trustworthy person as executor as they will have to carry out the instructions in the will and make important decisions. If you die “intestate.” the laws of the state will make the decisions on how your property is distributed, This includes any bank accounts, securities, real estate, and other assets you own at the time of death. Rather you do it than the state who will take their share.

OT,

So who do you set as executor? Would that be a lawyer, or??

-jake

My parents made my two brothers and I co-executors. It was our job to dissolve and disperse the estate. My mother was in a nursing home when she died so we had to reimburse the state for the medicaid they paid after her savings ran out. We sold everything in the house and garage we could sell at a big garage sale except for the nice furniture and some collectables that we put in a consignment shop to sell. What we could not sell or what we didn't want was thrown out. That was the hard part, throwing away your parents belongings. it just seemed wrong. We put the house up for sale and sold it pretty quickly. We did hire the lawyer that did my parents will, to the probate the will at the courthouse and to make sure any outstanding bills they may have had got paid, they didn't have any, my parents were sticklers about not having debt. You must advertise in the local papers asking for anyone that may be owed money to contact the lawyer, they have so many days to speak up or the meter runs out. Once that happens the executor divides what is left of the estate according to the will. in our case it was to be evenly dived between the 3 sons after we paid the lawyer. We didn't get much, we didn't expect to. I would advise having a lawyer to probate the will and take care of the paper work rather than stumble around trying to do it yourself. It is not fun, and I pity anyone who has to deal with an intestate estate because there was no will. We made my daughter our executor, you can use a lawyer but it will cost your heirs money, I think it is better to name someone you trust, after they agree to do it, and then they can use a lawyer for certain things and do dome themselves.

States differ on how things are done after someone passes away. If at all possible avoid probate. My father died without a will or trust and his estate was probated--which just makes a lawyer more well-off. My wife and I have our estates in two trusts, we are each other's trustee and our children are successor trustees. It is up to them to dispose of our things and they are the inheritors so they can make up their minds on what they want themselves. Some old family things we have already given to them to insure that they don't get away. A trust keeps the estate out of probate in many states. You can also make an irrevocable trust if you want to protect the estate against Medicaid coming after it but you have to do that 5 years before death(I think, maybe 7 years). Avoid probate, you will be smiling after you pass where ever you are.

Mostly for insurance reasons I have all that serial number stuff on flash drives. Because I can not guarantee nothing will happen to my home I have given a copy to my daughter who will control my will and another copy in a saftey deposit box at the bank.

Because insurance companys are for the most part crooked (ask flood and other distaster victums what they think) they get a new picture taken and are aprasied by a gun shop every 5 years, cost me about $85.00 last time for 28 shot guns and rifles.

My will spells out where each rifle/shot gun goes, to a person, any not spelled out going to a person is sold along with other property not easly divided.

When you get my age you need several documents to help in the waneing years and a really good lawyer is Key to get them drawn up right. Isn't to bad of an idea for every one to have those paper really and get them up dated as things in your life changes.

Some one who can take charge of medical distions if your not able to make your own choices. This is real important in a DNR type case. Doctors and hospitals love to milk every dine they can get from you.
Is important to make sure the person you chose to handle the DNR orders doesn't waver.


:D Al

My own will identifies only a few special items that are to be distributed to certain people. Most of my firearms will be sold by my executor and my modest trophy mount collection will be given to my favorite gun club.

gonna will mine to friends and relatives, my daughter isn't interested in them.
RR

I have already started to sell a bunch off. I only use 3 or 4 with any regularity so I'm letting the safe queens go. I figure I'll pare it down to about 6 and those will go to my 3 nephews when I am done. Not sure what to do with the taxidermy. It is hard to get rid of when someone dies as I found out when my father passed. I may end up making a donation to the biology dept f a school or something along those lines.

The anti-gun crowd has made me think along alternate lines of safely leaving firearms to family members. It would not be a bad idea to put a stainless auto pistol, a few high capacity mags and several boxes of ammo in one of those burial tubes or make one yourself out of PVC pipe. A handful of those moisture absorbing packets might be a good idea too. Bury this in the woods on the back 40 where it will not be disturbed and give the location instructions to a trusted friend or two at most. The "Red Flag" laws make it necessary to take precautions.

Also, I can not say this loud enough--AVOID PROBATE!!! Probate will take as much from your heirs as a fancy funeral, avoid that if at all possible.

Since I just had to deal with this very subject recently, as some of the regulars may know, I found that the old man's way of dealing with his pretty significant firearms collection worked extremely well. At least for us it did. He knew all 5 of us kids and our interests better than we did for the most part. As some of you know, he had a very wide variety of everything imaginable. From smokepoles to the latest in technology. He also knew where each of our interests lay, such as my main love is old smokepoles where my youngest brother is into AR's and advanced handguns. Alex is more into long range modern rifles but likes to dabble in modern inlines now. Deb is into Archery but is amazingly adept to AR's. Michael and I both love old revolvers and the old rifles. So basically what he had done was left me executor of all his firearms collection and mom everything else. He left me his notes on what he felt should go to whom but to use my own judgement as well as asking my siblings. Worked well but we are an extremely close knit family so that may or may not work for others. Out of 136 working firearms and 32 wall hangers deemed unsafe to fire, only 5 were sold. His intentions were known but as you know, his passing was totally unexpected and caught us all off guard. His will was very simple though and if you have a close knit family, that is probably the best thing. Complications always make the passing of a loved one hurt a hell of a lot more.

I'll add a couple things
first off the only value of havinga gun apprasied at a gun shop every so often(as someone above said they did)
would be if the gun was being used and condition changes, as once a gun is appraised for insurance reasons, it will be based on current values, any collectible like gun that is a safe queen, will pretty much stay in its condition and , values will be based on current market values of it
doesn't hurt to have appraised, but doubt much will come from it, market values come more into play here

next will be burying a gun and leaving it that way
that can be a double edged sword, as it can end up being a illegal deal, MOST all state's guns,(mostly hand guns here too, but can include long guns and FOR SURE will be required for any class II/III items) NOT to immediate family(father/mother/son daughter /brother/ sister) will still need guns to be legally transferred to them, through a FFL holder, like as if they were buying them, for the same reasons when buying a gun at a shop, !
this way NO criminal can be GIVEN a gun, and removes old owners name from said gun and onto new owners, this again is LEGALLY required on hand huns in MOST all states I know of, long guns, can be done some times without, but peace of mind, maybe better to do so IMO

hand guns, cannot just be left to ANYONE in a buried spot, as that gun will end up still being is SAID persons name and if someone down the road ends up using it , say to protect themselves, and they run gun and find out they got it out of a hole in someone's yard, they might end up in trouble, SO why would you want to risk something like that as a gift left behind?
the idea sounds good if your trying to hide from the GOV I guess, but it can leave a added risk to who ever you wish to leave things to, and possibly get them into trouble, all the more so with all the anti gun huts these days, looking to stick it to a gun owner
getting caught with a gun in someone else's name can be a felony and accused of having a stolen gun or??


and Taxidermy, yes this one unless of trophy size and value due to its size, is a lost cause as most mounted animals have sentimental value only to the shooter of it
I have over 40 deer heads alone, and I doubt ANYONE in my family or friends would want them,(hunting buddy's have there own as is)
I do see them at times on craigslist and such, but they seldom bring much in cash selling, a gun shop or Bar, might buy some, but I think most folks being left them will trash or sell dirt cheap and not have much value to them at all

I'm a odd ball here, I had a good friend die,a bunch of yrs back, at age 88, and he had his first deer he killed mounted , along with a picture of him and his brother next to it when he shot it, his brother didn;t want it, and I DID!
and still have it, its the only mount I own that is of a animal I didn;t hunt!
but it always reminds me of my friend, and I am Positive when I kick, NO one else will care for it LOL
its NOT a very pretty mount, been wanting to re do it since I got it, but at same time don't want to!
I strongly suggest giving away items while your alive if you can , and for sure have it spelled out as clearly as possible in a LEGAL will!

I know folks that inherited guns that are not in anyone's name that is still living, handguns included. Some do not trust registering firearms because they fear that if anti-gun folks have their way they know what you have and will collect them. It is not illegal for me or any of my heirs to own firearms so I see not harm in burying firearms to insure that they are available to me or them.

I'd never even considered taxidermy. I don't have anything mounted, just a wall of antlers/skulls, and some more in a big box. But no actual mounts

I suppose unless there was a special story, or if it was truly a special mount, those would really only have value to the hunter that got them.

-Jake