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Guns & Wills
sig232
Member Posts: 8,018
My wife and I recently had our wills rewritten and it became apparant that it is very important to add an attachment to your will to direct how your gun collection will be distributed.
If you fail to do this they will be sold at auction and the proceds distributed in accordance with the terms of the will. The problem is we all have specific firearms that we want to pass on to specific family members and friends. It was necessary for me to produce an inventory of my collection that I wanted to pass on to my son.
I know that it is so easy to put this off because we never think we are going to die or we don't want to take the time to deal with it, but it is very important.
I had a good friend that was 60 who died suddenly of a heart attack. He had a large gun collection and had not specified how his collection was to be divided. So his wife had to go through the agony of attempting to divide up his collection among all the sons and daughters and inlaws. It was a difficult process and I know he would have wanted some of the more valuable older firearms passed down to his sons. There was a lot of anger and debating about who should get what. I assisted in the process and helped the wife sell off the remaining collection. It was a nasty situation that could have been avoided if the proper planning had been done before my friends death. I know that is the way he would have wanted it to be, but he put it off.
I wanted to give everyone a heads up to give this some thought to make sure your wishes are carried out the way you want it to be done.
If you fail to do this they will be sold at auction and the proceds distributed in accordance with the terms of the will. The problem is we all have specific firearms that we want to pass on to specific family members and friends. It was necessary for me to produce an inventory of my collection that I wanted to pass on to my son.
I know that it is so easy to put this off because we never think we are going to die or we don't want to take the time to deal with it, but it is very important.
I had a good friend that was 60 who died suddenly of a heart attack. He had a large gun collection and had not specified how his collection was to be divided. So his wife had to go through the agony of attempting to divide up his collection among all the sons and daughters and inlaws. It was a difficult process and I know he would have wanted some of the more valuable older firearms passed down to his sons. There was a lot of anger and debating about who should get what. I assisted in the process and helped the wife sell off the remaining collection. It was a nasty situation that could have been avoided if the proper planning had been done before my friends death. I know that is the way he would have wanted it to be, but he put it off.
I wanted to give everyone a heads up to give this some thought to make sure your wishes are carried out the way you want it to be done.
Comments
Good reminder, thanx!
I am the executor of my brother's will AND I have HIS guns at MY house, so guess who decides who gets what?!?! He and I have verbally discussed this (like we really needed to) and each of us knows who gets the true heirloom pieces. I maintain an inventory of ALL firearms, his AND mine, for a variety of reasons and each of us knows the other will do what is right in the event of "unforeseen complications". A will is usually a good idea whether YOU think you own anything of value or not, though.
Good reminder, thanx!Good luck. I was the executor of my mother's will and had no idea that death could turn angels into snakes. I suggest strongly that you and your brother identify which guns go to whom; otherwise, it may turn out more ugly than you ever imagine.