Planning for our Estate Sale

After moving mom to a rest home, we cleaned out the house and things went pretty well, so I thought that we'd avoided the bickering that many families experience—hah. My dear brother started getting flaky, saying that he couldn't help because he didn't have the vacation time. Then, right when it was time to clean out the rat-infested area behind the garage, he announced that he was going on vacation. Our opinion of him has taken a significant hit, so yeah, it's a real test of family relationships. (It brings to mind a pastor's explanation that heaven is where we'll spend all eternity with our family...) That then brought to mind the Will Rogers quote "If there are no dogs in heaven, I want to go where they are", but I digress.
 
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I have seen issues with estates and family many times. Wife went through it when her mother passed. Father had passed first. She has three sisters and the second to the youngest, who never left home (in her 30's at the time) was assigned the executor of the estate. She kept saying she wasn't ready to deal with it and the loss so postponed everything for almost two years. Clause in the will said if anyone created an issue they were out and this was brought up many times. So it went on. The would have parties to divide things up but not invite everyone. She eventually bought the house form the estate and I believe purposely waited as the market was crashing to a point that she could afford to do it. Home value dropped around $150k by the time she settled. Ended up with all the furniture, appliances, tools, piles of years of stuff in the garage. The others only took the valuables, watches, jewelry, etc.
The mother offered me the guns, which I am the only one in the family that shoots, while she was still alive. I didn't feel right taking them right then as she was going through some severe health issues and I didn't want the kids to jump on her. All were taken by another BIL who just put them under his bed and they have never been used.
Proper outline of what you want and expect to happen after you pass is, from my experience, essential to a good will.
I have a clause in my will that everything goes to the nephews and nieces but it all has to be valued by a firm. Each gets the same value in stuff or cash.
 
I had a next door neighbors that were very old. I often helped them with things around the house. when the hubby passed his wife call me over to the house and had me move all tools to my house. She said the kids were already fighting over them and none of them would ever come over to help with anything. So she did not want them to get anything. The kids wanted to clear out the house even though mom was STILL LIVING THERE. She told the kids that they had sold all the tools over the years for living expenses.

Bottom line is spell it out or the kids can turn into monsters.
 
Flyinfool said:
I had a next door neighbors that were very old. I often helped them with things around the house. when the hubby passed his wife call me over to the house and had me move all tools to my house. She said the kids were already fighting over them and none of them would ever come over to help with anything. So she did not want them to get anything. The kids wanted to clear out the house even though mom was STILL LIVING THERE. She told the kids that they had sold all the tools over the years for living expenses.

Bottom line is spell it out or the kids can turn into monsters.
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Honestly, even a good will or trust still doesn't assure your wishes after you're gone. Your neighbors had the right idea, he may have even discussed it with his wife before he passed.

If you want someone to have something after you're gone then give it to them while you're still around. That way not only will your wishes be honored but you will also have the pleasure of seeing something you cherish go on to it's new owner.

John
 
My Grandmother put her friends names on a bunch of her stuff that she wanted to go to them. The problem we ran into, was we could not located some of the names. Either the person had died years before, or it was somebody that hung in a different circle then any of us knew about. She did have many interests, and hung in several groups, but most were over 10 years before she passed, as she spent too long in a nursing home before she passed. So If you have things to go to somebody, include a phone number and/ or address.

Interestingly, some of the stuff like paintings (she was an artist, and so was several of her friends), had several names, likely indicating the chain of succession the items took. Would have been interesting if they had included dates. She lived to be 99, so there was likely 70 years of item trading that took place.
 
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My son recently asked me about my "final wishes".

I told him to ask me again after I pass ans if I have an opinion, I'll let him know.

My stuff is my stuff. Every once in a while I have a panic sale and sell for pennies on the dollar. I am not buying my stuff as an investment. It has almost no financial value to me after I get it home. I don't see it as an asset. I see it all as "enjoyment".

When I go to a "sale" and see anything over 50% of "new" cost, I just pass. 50% of retail is just wholesale.

For the OP. Yes, I'm a vulture. I'm not far away. When you have a panic sale, call me! (pennies on the dollar, remember?)
 
gr8legs said:
Now to figure out what the spreadsheet needs to include to link the label to the item and its value.


View attachment 333886
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I think you're going to need to use a database like Microsoft Access to use bar codes. It's not that much more difficult than setting up the spreadsheet you want, but you'll have to build a front end that will let you use barcode lookups. Access databases have more functionality by leaps and bounds over a spreadsheet, and can easily do inventory/tracking/point of sale operations. There's a learning curve, but Microsoft provides excellent free training for all of its products.
 
One of the guys who came to the Richard King Scraping Class did something kinda like this..... We noticed that everyone of his tools had labels with the retail price and the date he bought it.... Guess he heard that joke about the machinist who had a nightmare......

"I had a nightmare, I dreamed that I died and my wife sold all of my tools for what I told her I paid for them......"

Lol
 
pontiac428 said:
I think you're going to need to use a database like Microsoft Access to use bar codes.
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That may be needed in the future - but for acquiring the data a simple spread sheet will work. It's not like we'll be looking up items and prices on a real-time daily basis.

If that need ever arises I (or my heirs) can import a spreadsheet into a database (I prefer postgresql - free and also free of the Micro$oft handcuffs) or Open Office database module (also free but a bit quirky).

Stu
 
That is always what I told a friend of mine. he always left 1 zero off the pices he told his wife. His wife understood that used stuff is never worth more than 505 of new. I always told him that I would buy all his stff for 50% of its value as SHE knew it. It used to get him soooo mad.

PS
Wives aint as dumb as some people think they are. She knew what stuff really cost.
 
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