Your final estate

[RedShirtGuy]

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.

[Nanigai]

Hi Redshirtguy,

I gave some thought to this some time ago, in particular to creating a database of my major or valuable items in my shed.
In the end I gave it away as not worthy of my time.
It needs a database program of some sort to catalogue items and that's not my strong point by any means.

Plus no matter what you put in it will anyone really take any notice?

Seems to me a lot of people just get someone else to come and take everything away and "deal with it" which is a shame.

If I have chance to do so in a planned way i will hopefully move my stuff on before I shuffle off so I don't leave an unwanted job to grieving family. I expect they may grieve but I could be wrong

If it doesn't work that way it will just have to sort itself out without my help.

Keep on working wood.
Cheers, Ian

[RedShirtGuy]

Agreed, being able to sort it out myself would be nice but we don't get much control over these things. My friend only had two weeks "notice" and was in hospital for almost all of that time, which scares the living heck out of me...that's not much time to do anything let alone be in a fit enough state to organise a lifetime of everything a 33 year old would need to and probably hadn't given much thought to before.

[FenceFurniture]

If I have chance to do so in a planned way i will hopefully move my stuff on before I shuffle off ....

Jeez Ian, I hope that selling me your rather nice #7 Stanley wasn't the start of that plan....

I don't think you need a database, just a simple Excel spreadsheet would do the job. Update it a couple of times a year, and keep it on a flash stick. Point to the flash stick and the forum in your will. Good for insurance purposes too.

Btw, I happened to have a spare Harold & Saxon HSS blade that I fitted to the #7. Noooiccce!

[Sir Stinkalot]

I think the data base option has a number of positives. It can be used to cover your goods for insurance purposes and also will provide valuable guidelines for those left behind should something happen.

My father was big into model trains. It was a hobby that I perhaps didn't share fully. In his last few days of his battle with cancer he told me the trains would be left to me, and that they had considerable value. Any parallel here with our tools?

For the past 13 years I have carted and stored boxes of model trains. Not that long ago I opened a few boxes up to see what was there. There were many basic kits along with completed trains. I was looking at the basic kits, which you seem to assemble and paint yourself, and wondered what connection these had with my memories of my father. After a considerable time I realised I had inherited my fathers hobby, one I didn't particularly share.

Looking back it would have been useful to have even a basic idea of their worth. I would have been able to go though all of the boxes, take out any of interest to me, or any that I felt had a strong connection to the memory of my father, and sell the rest.

Taking this line of thinking further it got me thinking about my tools and what I would be leaving behind. Whilst I enjoy my tools they are just a bi-product of my hobby. There is nothing of particular sentimental value in my tools, for either me or anybody I left them to. I would like to think that my family could either keep the tools, if somebody else had use for them, or alternatively could sell them off. I would like to think that if there was a data base of values available to them it would make this process a lot easier on them and if the tools could be sold at a decent price they could use the money for something useful.

[AlexS]

I think the data base option has a number of positives. It can be used to cover your goods for insurance purposes and also will provide valuable guidelines for those left behind should something happen.

Spot on. I made an Excel spreadsheet of everything in my workshop, with purchase date & price plus replacement cost. Also took photos to go with it. I did it for insurance, but also useful for those going through my leftovers.
I've always just tossed my receipts in a box, so I have some that are nearly 30 years old. Amazing how some things are cheaper now than they were then.

[Christos]

....Plus no matter what you put in it will anyone really take any notice?.....

You have to have the right title, like Million Dollars worth of Items.


As for cataloging items I think it would be worth while doing this on a spreadsheet and taking photos. And I also think it does not have to be done in one day but over time a little each day.

[RedShirtGuy]

I'm liking this spreadsheet/photos idea for the two purposes it serves. A pain in the bum to get done initially but easy to maintain after that.

And certainly the Million Dollar Items title would make sure someone at least looks at it

[issatree]

Hi All,
This is a rather interesting Subject, & there is another aspect you could all look at.

As it is up to you, you can leave part or the whole of your Body to Science, & even at my age they can still pass on some of your parts to help someone that could make their life last quite a bit longer.

As for My Tools, that is going to be another Quandary, as I was going to make up 5 Sets of Tools for the Males in the Family.
" Don't bother, just sell them all up ", Yeh, like in a Pigs Whistle ???.

How could one Possibly sell ones Tools.
Well I Can't, That's for sure.\
So now they will have more Probs when I'm gone, than they wood have, had I made up all the Sets of Tools for them.
Hope somebody, doesn't get to see this.

[Nanigai]

Jeez Ian, I hope that selling me your rather nice #7 Stanley wasn't the start of that plan....

I don't think you need a database, just a simple Excel spreadsheet would do the job. Update it a couple of times a year, and keep it on a flash stick. Point to the flash stick and the forum in your will. Good for insurance purposes too.

Btw, I happened to have a spare Harold & Saxon HSS blade that I fitted to the #7. Noooiccce!

Not a chance FF, way too soon yet.
You may not have guessed but I still have two more #7's. One's ordinary but my favourite is my beautiful #7C.
I am envious of the HSS blade you fitted, bet it's really sweet now!

Yeah you could be right, especially about the Insurance purposes. Does anyone really know what it would cost to replace their tools/equipment if the worst happened. Bet a few people would be really surprised, it adds up really fast.

Cheers, Ian

[Farmer Geoff]

Thanks for provoking some thought on this. Often the value of tools in the shed is a small proportion of the total estate but it is a big proportion of the emotional component. I have been impressed with a few "men's sheds" and wonder whether one could leave instructions that a particular local men's shed or woodworkers' guild, etc could be mentioned in one's will along the lines of "it is my wish that .............men's shed be contracted to manage the disposal of the entire contents of my shed and in return they shall receive 10 per cent of the proceeds of those contents". It would bring some expertise to the matter, increase the chance that items found an appreciative home, maximise the return, give a donation to the shed and/or help fund their purchase of items that may appeal to them. Hopefully we all have lots of time to ponder the topic!

[snowyskiesau]

I must admit that I've never thought of what will happen to my tools, or other possessions when I die and to be honest, I'm not that sure that I care.
Whatever the public trustee decides to do with them I guess.

[Twisted Tenon]

This is a thoughtful thread.
I've recently made a will and have not included my tools because I have a few now. I've told my son that he has first pick and I hope he keeps my fathers two planes. My brothers can take their pick. I don't really care what happens to the rest.
I've had to clean out my fathers shed some years ago then my uncles shed a couple of years back. I don't want my kids having to do that for me.

TT

[cava]

I think that it is wonderful and so thoughtful, to consider listing all of your tools and their original costs, down for the government.

It would make it so much easier for them to value, for when death duties are re-instigated.

[FenceFurniture]

Well, we've got at least 12 months George - wasn't in last night's budget.....