[ARC5] Wills and all that

[Bart Lee]

I agree with Scott.

One should label and document one's sacred objects as if one were about to
sell them on X-Bay for a million dollars, because that is how much grief
you will save your heirs when they have to dispose of them.  If you want
them to go to a museum, do it now, or they may just get junked  - and
include a modest donation towards curatorial costs -- but don't expect you
can require a museum to keep them just because you love 'em.  Many
donations are sold-on for operating expenses.  But they go to the
interested, so that's all to the good.

The benefit of a trust over a will is that it saves probate fees, which can
be large and eat the estate. A trust costs some money up front but saves a
lot later for the heirs.

73 de Bart, K6VK, Retired Attorney ##
-- --
Bart Lee, K6VK, CHRS, AWA, ARRL

Texts only to: 415 902 7168

www.bartlee.com

{Bart(dot)Lee(dot)K6VK(at)gmail(dot)com}
<http://www.lawforhams.com/>



On Mon, Jun 8, 2020 at 10:12 PM Scott Robinson <spr at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Folks,
>
> First, you need  a will for legal and other reasons. You might wish to
> create a Revocable Trust, and put all your major financial assets in it;
> this will give your heirs a much smoother ride when you do depart this
> life. This takes a lawyer, and mine cost me about $2500.
>
> Further, you should have a list of what you own, model and serial number,
> condition (restored,working. work in process, for parts only, etc.), and a
> dated estimate of value. The value part will of course be approximate, but
> it helps separate the high value items from the rest of the herd. Keep a
> printed copy with your will...and probably a list of bank account numbers
> and passwords, too.
>
> This last is important; a work friend died about 10 years ago, and his
> wife knew practically nothing abut their finances. He had a network of
> kluged Window computers at home containing this data,but she knew no
> passwords. Since ha had been employed at a tech company, his work friends,
> as the Nazi movies say, had Ways. A skillful colleague reset the passwords
> on the machines, one after the other.  If he had worked, say, at an
> insurance office, matters would have been much harder.
>
> FWIW,
>
> Scott Robinson
>
> On 6/8/20 7:59 PM, kn7sfz wrote:
>
> His contributions were always an interesting read.
>
> I wonder if he had any ham friends in Florida who could assist his widow
> with the disposition of his no doubt considerable collection.
>
> It would appear that his condition came upon him rather quickly and he
> probably had no time to tie up loose ends, so to speak.  This really sobers
> me as I am 3 years older than he and have considerable stuff myself that I
> would not want to become a burden to my widow.  What to do....what to
> do....   None of us really knows how much sand we each have left in our
> hourglass.
>
> I do hope she gets the support she needs.
>
> And we know for whom the bell tolls......for us, whose lives have now
> diminished with his loss.
>
> Richard kn7sfz
>
>
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