Your final estate

[SAISAY]

We have left instructions that all our tools go to the local woodworking guild and, what they don't want goes to the local men's shed.

[bsrlee]

Or, if you end up hating all and sundry, leave your will with a large legal firm with the instructions that all your tools are to be encased in concrete and used to build/add to an artificial reef. The Legal Eagles will do the deed and the relo's will have a hard time p155ing up the proceeds of selling all your toys. By the time they get to court to contest any will the concrete will be really set.

As you may gather, I'm not impressed with my relatives and I am much more likely to leave my gear to someone who I have a favourable regard for than any of them.

[AnselmFraser]

To add a little history to the above question I thought you may be interested to hear what would happen if you were working in London in the 18th century , London at that time was like some parts of China and India are today , in the fact of working long hours for minimal wages . When a woodworker could no longer work because of his age and health he had a retirement party on a bridge over the river Thames after much drink and food he would chuck his bag of tools into the river because he so hated his job - this was their celebration though this is thought to have been largely symbolic because we guess that the good tools would have been given to his sons and the bag possibly had rocks in the bottom and some warn out tools on the top .
What to do with your serviceable tools that you have no more use for? Well our students are eternally grateful to all the kind people who have donated their tools to our furniture school.

[doug3030]

Actually, one of my greatest fears is that if something happened to me that my girlfriend would sell all my machinery, tools and timber - for what she thinks I paid for them.

Doug

[BobL]

When my son left home he left a big mess and $138 of coins amongst the knee deep rubble and food scraps in his room. It took me 2 days to clean it up.

When I leave, my instruction will be simple - he has to clean it up, not his mum or my brothers he has to do it. He can get cleaners in or whatever. I don't care what he does with it but it is his job. I intend to make and leave a much bigger mess than he left behind.

After years of absolutely no interest in this stuff we have done some projects together so there is hope yet. Last weekend he asked me if I would teach him to weld!

[doug3030]

When my son left home he left a big mess and $138 of coins amongst the knee deep rubble and food scraps in his room.

Hey at least you got paid to clean up the mess. thats more than I got

[ian]

It's been a pretty rough fortnight with losing my last grandparent after months of battling age (just shy of 92) and the effects of numerous strokes, and a friend that was five years my younger who was taken barely two weeks after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

Naturally one begins to think about their own mortality and the events after. I don't (but should) have a last will and testament and some final instructions for what to do with me and my stuff. There's nobody in my family or circle of friends that would want my shed toys or even have the foggiest idea as to their value or what to do with them. I've seen a few estate items turn up in the forums with the poster not really knowing what they had. Rather than have them rust away or sold for a song, I'd like to see my gear sold off so the properly valued money could be put to use elsewhere. Besides my shed gear, I own sweet bugger all of anything else - car, clothes, computer and a few boxes of comics pretty much sums it up.

My first thoughts were to leave notes about each tool and machine pertaining to it's age, state, current value and approximate depreciation. Also some instructions about how to use these forums as the first point of call to selling the items as I would trust a lot of you (and similarly minded future members) to pipe up and say something about fair value rather than an estate auctioneer (or whoever would normally take care of such things).

Has anyone in a similar situation to me regarding assets put in place anything specific to help those left behind to move your gear on at the value that it's worth?

Would other prominent forumites offer up some time and knowledge to help the bereaved if it was known they needed a hand? (Not that I'm asking for it.)


It's not a great subject but one that each of us has, or will have to, confront at some stage and I'm all for making it easier on the poor buggers left to deal with my messes.

Hi Red Shirt Guy

STEP 1
Make a will. In it specify who you want to act as executor and how you want your estate disposed of. If you don't have a will there's a fair chance that the entire value of your estate, including any superannuation balance, less funeral expenses will go to the Government. After keeping the residual of your estate out of the clutches of the government, you might like to have a say in which friends and/or family members and/or charities should get any cash or property left behind.
Remember if you're currently employed or have ever been employed there's a fair chance that one or more of your super funds has insured your life.

STEP 2
Write a letter to accompany your will telling your executors what you'd like done with the items you particularly value and possibly giving instructions on how to realise their fair value.
This letter can be updated as required to reflect new tool acquisitions or significant disposals.
Realising fair value is the tricky bit.
In my own case I'm confident that the funeral expenses will be more than covered by my superannuation, so establishing "fair value" for the tools is mostly about ensuring the tools go to where they will be appreciated.

In your case unless you have significant cash in the bank or a super fund, your tools might need to be sold to pay your debts. "fair value" in that instance could be interpreted as a garage sale, with nothing over $50

[FenceFurniture]

When my son left home he left a big mess and $138 of coins amongst the knee deep rubble and food scraps in his room. It took me 2 days to clean it up.

Does he get the bag of coins?

[BobL]

Does he get the bag of coins?

He gets a lot more - whatever he finds in my shed that does not belong to SWMBO will be his to do with what he likes.

[Toymaker Len]

Even a simple workshop notebook with a few details of what is what would be handy.

[rsser]

The issue bugs me too despite having a will that sets up a testamentary trust. That means I can shuffle off this mortal coil and the problem is someone else's

That said I'm a Dutchman (after a fashion) and would hate to be sitting in heaven watching the shed contents go for a song.

At a WWW show I spoke with a guy who set himself up to work with wood by making a widow an offer for a fine bunch of shed contents at a bargain basement price. Good for him; not so good for the estate.

My take on dealing with the problem is this: instructions are left to the trustees (or executor) to recruit one of my boys to manage the disposal process, and to hire someone knowledgeable to value the various items. The latter would be paid on an hourly rate and the son would have to get a substantial proportion of the sale revenue as clearly there's a heap of work involved.

On the other hand, maybe I'll be burning in the other place and won't give a sh*t

Edit: executor added

[Gra]

My old man solved the problem, by looking at me smiling and saying when I go its your problem. When I go, got no Idea, but no 1 caught is starting to show an interest. Though my kids are only young

[shedbound]

Just like to add to this thread, if may.
Sometimes our wishes have little meaning to anyone.
Here's an example of events that have unfolded over the past six months or so.
My mentor, who is the reason I like turning, became a carpenter, joined the fishing club etc etc... and long time member of the Peninsula Woodturners Guild, unexpectedly fell ill, and had to be put into a nursing home.

The entire contents of his shed were given away, against his wishes he had plans for his possesions a liftimes collection of turning tools, and his and his fathers carpentry tools, by his step daughters .

His poor soul is absolutely bleeding with what has happened, He hasn't passed and is still mentally good. This just shows whatever your intentions, it may just not happen.
P.s anyone reading this, that knows to whom I am referring and knows the whereabouts of his lathe please PM me. It would mean the world to him to recover some items, (I will personally purchase these back) It is possible that his items may have ended up at a mens shed on the Mornington Peninsula.
kind regards
Joel

[ian]

Unfortunate, but fairly typical.
but as it was explained to me, instructions only impose a moral obligation on the executors, they are not (can not be?) a binding obligation.

To ensure that your wishes are actually followed, you really need to establish a form of trust with your estate.



In terms of what should happen with your shed's contents, perhaps the best way is to donate the shed's contents, in its entirety, to a non-profit wood working organisation with instructions that the contents be disposed of to the benefit of the association. At least that way you know that other wood workers might end up valuing the tools. (If you have a shed full of Lie Nielsen planes, their value might be enough to establish a scholarship of some sort.)

I'd caution against donating to the local men's shed as in many cases, the tools would be seen as being not much more than additional junk.

[rsser]

Yes, you can add a statement of wishes to your will which has a strong moral but not legal force with your executor. Or I gather you can go to the trouble of bequeathing them to someone but the listing of them can be messy.

In the sad case that shedbound outlines, if there wasn't an correct legal power of attorney that was used, the giving away of the tools was illegal. When you draft one of these it's always worth including a clause that it applies only when you are no longer competent to make decisions as certified by your medical practitioner.