I Need advice so as not to leave my wife in the dark.

[DCP]

I Need advice so as not to leave my wife in the dark.

I have arms from the Civil war to WW2 sniper rifles to knives and arms from the current era. I have ammo to sell or give with most sales. I don’t have any junk.

Please do not ask what I have as this post is not a for sale post.

Any advice would be appreciated
Thanks

[tunnug]

Make a list of what you have and what will go with it, have a pair of price for each, low and high, show it to your wife to make sure she understands it and answer any questions without any attitude (not saying you will, I know I sometimes do it without realizing)keep in mind she may not know what you mean, good luck.

ps; if you already know who may want it you may want to add a name.

[Buck Butcher]

Sell them now. Prices are up, keep all you want, but sell is my advice.

My sisters (ex) husband passed away and left stuff for my sisters kids to deal with. My sister ended up having to handle the sales. The in-laws got involved too.

Save her the hassle, leave her an inheritance, not a mess.

My 2 cents

[Thin Man]

Decide which 1 or 2 of your closest, most trusted friends can pitch in to help guide your wife on these disposals. Over the past 8 years I have lost an average each year of one long time friend who was in the same circumstances as you suggest you are. I offered my assistance to each of these families and was gratefully accepted in most. The others used family members. I have a few friends where that person and I have a mutual agreement to offer our assistance to the surviving members of that person's family should they pass. I also shared this agreement with my wife. This way I can keep my toys until the end and still feel good the toys will bring my wife a fair price. My wife already knows the people I have selected to help her. If your wife has not met your designated assistant then introduce them to each other.

[StuBach]

You can also choose some designated friends to help your wife in disposition if needed.

I’m on the younger side of the spectrum here but I have a record binder (2 actually) which has info pages on all my firearms including photo, serial number, accessories and history. I have a third binder which has info on my larger equipment pieces (melters. Molds, presses, anything worth moving as a center piece. (Agree that adding pricing would be helpful)

Behind that I have my brother and a friend from this forum as designated “managers” that have agreed to assist wife with packing up safely and moving it around as needed. My view on it is my two kids get everything with certain pieces already assigned (they’re 2&4 currently). If they don’t want them to keep them they are to be parsed out to my nephews and niece so the collection stays in the family if possible.

If wife is in need of liquidating them for financial needs than brother has already agreed to help so family firearms stay in family (items inherited from our grandfather/dad) wife can liquidate the rest if needed using local friend who is trust worthy (and luckily has different tastes in firearms ).

Best thing is have a plan and make sure she knows it. There is also such a thing as a “gun will” which is exclusively designed to do final disposition of a firearm collection if you want to go that route. Not all estate attorneys can draft them but they should be able to point you to who can.

[JimB..]

The surviving spouse will generally be slow to dispose of things, so figure that stuff will sit without care for 2 to 5 years unless she’s going to be moving out of the house. If the money will matter then you need to decide if you want to keep your toys until you pass knowing that it’ll be a burden on her, or sell your toys in advance giving up your hobby to lighten her load later.

[remy3424]

I agree with Buck, you know what you have and where to market them. Do her the courtesy of not having to deal with it, you will get much more for your stash than she ever would. I hope I have the opportunity to see the sun-set coming to do the same. At his point my kids have little to no interest in my hobbies.

[Land Owner]

The surviving spouse will generally be slow to dispose of things, so figure that stuff will sit without care for 2 to 5 years unless she’s going to be moving out of the house.

Not always...my boss' mother decided on the day AFTER his father's death to dispose of the LOT of firearms, reloading machines, accessories and components, ammunition, and casting gear. It was all my boss, a younger man than me, could do to keep his mom from putting it on the curb - for FREE - or for the garbage men, whoever came first.

We worked quickly together to value his father's shooting, casting, and reloading estate, initially through my 2.5 hour, photo line item by photo line item, estimate spreadsheet based on on-line retail and "used" values, and then waited a month for a 2nd opinion through the boss' friend that was within a "few hundred dollars" of my totals (best case and "what the market will bear"). The estate was sold, complete, for a reasonable value, and NOT thrown away.

[RU shooter]

Just me but if I knew I was at the age or condition I could no longer use or enjoy my possessions , I would handle the sale of them myself while I still could . Your knowledge of the items will maximize the potential for its true value . Take the profits and put in it a bank account or in precious metals

[Huskerguy]

Some good advice above. I am the care provider for my 90 year father and he has very little to dispose of but the time I spend just keeping up with medical decisions is significant.

Obviously, we don't know when the Lord calls us home. I have casting loading and firearms and all the pieces that go with it. I am sure many of us will push the envelope if time, admiring our goods right up until the last minute. So think practically. Obviously, selling yourself, before your demise would be best. Saves the wife and kids a bunch of headaches.

Here is what I do.
Label everything. Parts for my reloaders as re marked so they know where they go. Take pictures and make a list of what goes with want. With modern technology, this is not that difficult.

I have a spread sheet for every firearm that includes when purchased, where, price, serial number, detailed list of accessories and current value. I update this at least once a year.

I also have told my wife where to go to get rid of things should she need to. A friend will sell firearms at his store and I told her to use this site for my lead.

Just think things through and account for the what ifs. Yes, it would be nice to get it done before leaving this earth but things happen.

[kerplode]

I Need advice so as not to leave my wife in the dark.

I have arms from the Civil war to WW2 sniper rifles to knives and arms from the current era. I have ammo to sell or give with most sales. I don’t have any junk.

Please do not ask what I have as this post is not a for sale post.

Any advice would be appreciated
Thanks

Sell it all now.

[Duckiller]

I have no idea of DCP's age or health condition.He may be younger than me and live for another 30 years. Why should he sell guns now? Make a DATED list of firearms and accessories with today's prices. Update at least every 4 years. Have a shop or friend that can guide your wife. Update this periodically also. I have outlived my wife so it will fall on my sons and daughter to decide hat to do with my guns. Some will be kept (Colt Python) some will probably be sold (1911 SR) and some will be used by children or spouses or grandchildren. I am in my late 70's and probably only need a 31/2" goose gun . May need to buy a chipmonk for granddaughter when she is a little older ( 6 mos now). I may sell some guns that children have little interest in and I don't want/get to shoot much. Then again our new President may try to take guns from me and I want a few I can sacrifice.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Is your health failing?

If you have a lot of stuff, you don't want your wife selling these items piecemeal, as that can be a huge chore for anyone, even for the one who collected it all.

What I would recommend, is figure what is to stay with family, and then see if the balance of stuff is enough to warrant having an auction, if so, you may as well search out a good, trustworthy, local auctioneer who has an FFL (or one who is willing to sell them, even if they don't have an FFL, it's still legal to do so and there is special rules, but few are willing nowadays). Get it all setup now, so when she needs to sell, it's just a matter of her calling the Auctioneer.

[country gent]

I would recommend talking to an estate auctioneer. Have it set up and ready to go laid out with your will. If there are things you want to go to friends or family members name them out. Then its just following the instructions. Firearms, equipment,tools all can be included. Talk to the local auction houses have your wife present and your chosen executor let your wishes be known.
Consignment with a trusted shop can work but may become a drawn out process with bigger collections since they cant flood their inventory with a lot of firearms at one time.

[Ed K]

1. My local pusher recently pointed out several classes of collectible firearms that peaked a decade or more ago that may never regain their peak value.
2. Hamilton Bowen has gone on record claiming revolver prices (personal favorite) are at about peak and will in the future begin to decline indefinitely.
3. Firearms values are very high right now.
4. Why keep a spreadsheet of firearms that do not see use (when you're 60, 70, 80...)?

Sometimes being honest is tough: I could get by with a number I could count on one hand (or maybe two ). If that honesty results in concern for your loved one all the more so...

[VariableRecall]

I may be very young here, but I think it would be prudent to make your thorough inventory in both electronic and physical form, Especially if you have a lot of it.
Perhaps you can Dewey Decimal that stuff and label everything so that all you have to do to find an item you're looking for is to refer to its number and place on the shelf.

That way, if it's being sold or just used by a friend, you can not have to worry and wait around trying in vain to find it.

[jimlj]

Definitely make a list with all values.
I'd sell or give away those you no longer shoot.
Don't leave too much for your wife to have to deal with.

My dad passed away 10 years ago, (mom passed 5 years earlier) and his estate is still a mess. No fighting among 7 kids, but he left no real direction and none of us want to take the bull by the horns and settle it.

My father in law had a stroke 8 years ago, and passed away 2 years ago. He had several collector cars he could no longer drive or enjoy. He would have no part of selling the cars to someone who would enjoy them, and left them for my wife and mother in law to deal with. He knew values and everything about them, but he took that information with him when he left.

These experiences convinced my wife and I to get our affairs in order so our kids don't have to deal with such a mess when we are gone.

Speaking from experience, make a plan while you can and don't leave it for others to have to deal with.

[wv109323]

I would write down a description of each a give an approximate value, especially if your firearms are rare. Another option is an auction firm that specializes in the arena of your collection. That is a quick way to dispose and you may not get top dollar. There may be an auction site that you trust and you could recommend them to your spouse.

[Geezer in NH]

Not for nothing but why do you think you will out live her? Just cause you want to does not mean you will..

She goes and you sold all your stuff now you got squat. No wife[god bless her] and none of the stuff that makes you happy.

Hard thing to say the way this post goes but it has a 50/50 chance eh?

[contender1]

A lot of excellent advice here in the above posts.
I'll offer another tidbit that will save a LOT of headache AND money.

Talk to a lawyer,, who specializes in TRUSTS! Put your collection of stuff in a Trust,, and then it isn't subjected to estate taxes & such. TALK TO A LAWYER ABOUT IT!!!!!!