[Cerberus]

Just turned 50. Beautiful understanding wife of 5 years. No kids. All my sibs are POS idiots. I plan on continuing as if I'm still 20 until my body gives out. If I go suddenly, my wife can do whatever she wants with what is left - she is very smart and will get top dollar. If she goes before me, I'll probably sell most everything so it goes to a good home. I don't want it going in an estate sale to vultures.
I do need to find some local contacts in which to share this hobby with, but haven't gotten there yet. I plan on attending some local cruise ins as well as Norwalk once I get one of the projects road worthy. Maybe I'll make some local connections there.

[Txbobcat]

I was worried about my parts as well. Somewhat worried about the cars to. So I told the wife that Lord forbid that I die before you. I want you to call X a forum member here and let him come and get the parts and any car he wants first and let him sell it off and then come and get another until everything is gone. Now I do have 9 grandkids 6 of which are boys and most have expressed interest in the cars. I told them they would be allowed to buy a car at a discount not a freebie. That money is designated for the wife. When she dies they can all split it up. I would be so afraid to let the wife sell anything. She would probably let them set for a few months then if they wouldnt start I would hate to see what she asked for them. A dead battery could get someone a 75% discount.

[Kurt Zimmerman]

I've found that all the extra 'stuff' becomes a burden to how you want to live your life. I have been giving the kids stuff I haven't used for decades... in the hopes that they can use it.

Example: Being 58, I've decided that I no longer need a 32' extension ladder. Not only is it taking up space in my garage, I don't feel like climbing a ladder that high ever again. Why should I? I have sons and son-in-laws for that! LOL The kid who got the ladder is happy to do my climbing for me. Same thing with chain saws, heavy sledge hammers, etc.

I keep the stuff I really want and give the rest away.

Kurt

[1beautifuldaughter]

Exit Strategy :
Lord Forgive me for any wrong I've done and accept this one time offer coupon into heaven , And please watch over my friends and family until we meet again.
Because thats all that really matters.

The only thing I think of is some money scavenger coming in and taking advantage of a bad time. But I don't think that can happen as long as my wife has any say.

[MH 1964]

This is a great thread, Turning 52 this year just last week my wife and I was having a beer in the garage and for the fist time in our 28 years this subject came up. I have collected 1964-67 GTO parts and cars since I was 16 years old. I have not sold much of it, so that only tells you how much is here. My wife has always supported me in the hobby and let me bring this junk home back in the day. With some good advice here. We decided in 2014 to make a list where to sell parts and cars if need be. Last couple of years we have sold about 4 project gtos, that I was never going to get to and some parts. Our son and daughter are into gtos so the cars might stay with some parts. My wife biggest thing is, she knows what some stuff is worth but not all of it. I just need to clean up and organize a little better. I work in the garage 4 nights a week and that will not change till the day I die. The people I have met in this hobby in priceless and every year at Norwalk it is a family reunion! Yes this is just stuff, but my family will tell you a story about when I bought this part or hauled this car home and they laugh! Also I do not want to burden them with a mess or stuff they do not have a clue what it is. THANKS for advice of this thread!

[hada76]

Originally Posted by Kurt Zimmerman

I no longer need a 32' extension ladder. I don't feel like climbing a ladder that high ever again.
Kurt

that struck me funny, so true

[72pontiac]

my best friend passed 5 yrs ago at 44. I was over helping his widow the other day. his garage was like the day he left this world.

[Bet Winner]

I'm in my 50's and in good health, but I did let my wife know who to call to help sell the cars and parts if something happens to me. My advice was to let this person keep as much as 25% of the sales proceeds for his efforts. I believe my wife would end up with more this way and my friend would make some money--everyone wins it seems--if handled correctly.

My 2 boys don't seem interested in the old cars--not yet anyway.

[Mattman]

Originally Posted by Kurt Zimmerman

I've decided that I no longer need a 32' extension ladder. Not only is it taking up space in my garage, I don't feel like climbing a ladder that high ever again. Kurt

I own a roofing company and I won't even get on a ladder that tall

[projectfolly]

This is a very good topic and there are a lot of great posts here.

I got my “wakeup call” when a co-worker, mentor and great friend of mine suddenly passed away due to a massive heart attack. He was in his 50s, seemingly in great health. It was very sudden and happened at home.
Obviously, his wife and two daughters were devastated, as was I.

He had been into cars most of his life. He had about 15 cars, give or take, some projects, some show cars, some drivers, and a life time collection of parts, parts cars and tools.
When it came time to start getting rid of the collection, his widow asked me for help since I knew what most everything was, and had an idea of what things were worth.
In fact, I’d been along when he had bought some of the cars and or parts in the first place.
She had absolutely no clue where to begin and her daughters had no interest in any of it. Right from the get go, I made it clear, as far as I was concerned, I didn’t want anything from the collection, and I also made it clear I didn’t want anything in return for my help. (We’ll, maybe a chance to buy the ’72 455 HO GTO but I couldn’t afford it at the time anyway) We went through everything, which was a daunting task, came up with a plan and got to work.
Wasn’t long before her relatives got involved and began to impart their advice on how she should be handling the process. Eventually, it became obvious to me that I was considered an “outsider” by the new parties involved, and as such, not to be trusted.
I figured the best thing to do was walk away and let her relatives take over, wasnt easy though.
Ultimately, they decided to auction it all off. I didn’t attend the auction.

Years later, now that I'm older, and not in fact immortal, this experience got me to thinking about what would happen if I died tomorrow? What would my wife and kids do with all my stuff? What do I want them to do with it all? Will it be easy for them to sell the stuff off, or will it be a protracted, painful process? Is it fair to leave my survivors with a huge mess?

All tough questions and what’s more, I realized I was heading down the path of being a hoarder. I had enough parts and car projects stacked up that realistically, even if I lived to be 100, I wouldn’t have enough time, money (or both) to complete them all. I had so much crap I started to forget what I had.

Time for some changes.

I began by reducing my parts collection to a more manageable size. Got rid of the junk, parts for cars I no longer or never would own, multiples of parts, ect.
I then tried to get most of the remaining items onto shelves and organized by make, model or commonality.
Once the parts were easy to get to, I labeled all the containers the parts are stored in, as well as many of the loose parts that I could. Still an on-going process.
At least this way, my wife will know what things are and it will be easier for someone setting up an estate sale – easier get it all properly organized and cataloged.
The side benefit, is that it’s now easier (for me) to find stuff!

I’ve narrowed down the car collection to the ones I really wanted and are also cherished by the wife and kids.
I also decided that if I wasn’t going to get to a car project in 2 years max, it had to go.

As for my tools, I’m not worried about those as much. I figure my wife and kids will probably want at least some of them and the rest should be easy to sell off in lots.

Just the same, I try to keep my garage very well organized so that if someone else walked in, they’d be able to easily figure out where/what everything is.
Not fun trying to sort through piles of tools, parts and debris all over the place. Been there, done that.

I know my friend never intended for things to turn out the way it did and leave his family with such a mess.
I guess life has a way of getting in the way of our plans.

[Greg Reid]

I think some of you may be missing the larger point...It's not so much about how much the stuff is worth and who will get it. The larger issue, and the one I worry about sometimes, is the fact that if something happens to you, it can be a MAJOR pain to the survivors to have to do something with all your STUFF. Especially, when they may have no idea what it is, much less what it's worth.
Believe me, it's a lot of work for your survivors to clean out a garage full of old car parts, tools, etc.....Especially one that has been gathered over a period of 30 or 40 YEARS.

[ho428]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

I think some of you may be missing the larger point...It's not so much about how much the stuff is worth and who will get it. The larger issue, and the one I worry about sometimes, is the fact that if something happens to you, it can be a MAJOR pain to the survivors to have to do something with all your STUFF. Especially, when they may have no idea what it is, much less what it's worth.
Believe me, it's a lot of work for your survivors to clean out a garage full of old car parts, tools, etc.....Especially one that has been gathered over a period of 30 or 40 YEARS.

Over the past few years I've had to liquidate 3 estates and like you say it is not an easy task.
A couple of things I learned.
No one wants your old furniture unless it's a single heirloom piece, few people even want the nice antiques.
Auctions will get rid of a lot of stuff fast, but expect pennies on the dollar for what you think it's worth.
No one wants any clothes.
You can throw most of the entire kitchen ware away.
No one wants an old used washer-dryer-stove-fridge, etc... give it away if you can.
Ask around enough and someone will take all the tools. Tell them all or none.
If you leave a house empty, offer the mower and trimmers to a neighbor in exchange for cutting the grass.
If there is something with a little value no one will pay you what it's worth, take .25 cents on the dollar and be happy about it. Don't store it in hope of selling it "someday"
No one wants any books, bears, beanie babies or figurines, although some of them sell good at auction.
Bedroom suites are the hardest to sell. Go low $ with good pictures on CL.

If you know enough about certain items you can try to sell them as a lot, but even then it's a royal PITA.
The only things I had decent luck at selling were cars, trucks and boats.


As far as my cars and parts I wrote most everything I have down with notes on how and who to contact to help liquidate it. Some of it would get posted on PY for sell. I'd rather people that would appreciate it get it, even at clearance pricing.

[Chief Wanabee]

Originally Posted by ho428

As far as my cars and parts I wrote most everything I have down with notes on how and who to contact to help liquidate it. Some of it would get posted on PY for sell. I'd rather people that would appreciate it get it, even at clearance pricing.

This is a most excellent idea - thanks! I will also try to add something helpful here. Beyond having a will (critical if you want to have any say in what happens to your stuff), it's a good idea to make it very clear where your "finances" are. What accounts, what banks, who you have your stocks and other investments with, where's your insurance policy, pension, etc etc. Although my wife and I work as a team when it comes to finances, she probably couldn't tell you precisely where everything is. And in a time of loss - or when it's someone else acting as your executor - you want them to be able to find everything with as little stress as possible. People are at their most vulnerable after losing a loved one and they may not be thinking straight, or they can get conned/cheated.

I've witnessed a number of family and friends having to deal with the aftermath of a mess (hoarders, financial records, etc) after someone passes, and I've learned my lesson - I'll never leave a legacy like that for anyone else to have to clean up.

[Jerry H.]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

I think some of you may be missing the larger point...It's not so much about how much the stuff is worth and who will get it. The larger issue, and the one I worry about sometimes, is the fact that if something happens to you, it can be a MAJOR pain to the survivors to have to do something with all your STUFF. Especially, when they may have no idea what it is, much less what it's worth.
Believe me, it's a lot of work for your survivors to clean out a garage full of old car parts, tools, etc.....Especially one that has been gathered over a period of 30 or 40 YEARS.

That's exactly what I'm talking about. I'm not particularly worried about the value, I just don't want my kids with the burden of disposing of my stuff. I just went through this with my mother's estate. I was lucky enough to have enough nieces and nephews that needed furniture, etc. to get rid of all of her fixtures. We had to rent a dumpster to clean out her house; clothes, food that was odd or outdated, and just junk that no one wanted. We could have had a yard sale, but no one wanted to fool with it. When my daughter just recently spent 2 months at home taking care of us after the accident she mentioned jokingly of having to clean up our junk when we passed away. That was after she ran across my magazine collection.

[tharkun8]

Jerry ,

There is no really good answer to this problem. I am in my early 40s but same ..
no kids... wife not interested in cars.. and we did have to take care of my Mother
in Laws estate after she died of Lou Gehrigs (ALS) and that sucked and it wasnt even
car stuff. So Ive already seen this from the 'cleaner-upper' perspective.

Best advice I can give is to sell now all that you think you can. If you have to 'bribe'
your kids to help that might have to be done.

On everything you still want to keep .. it might help to tag each thing with that it is..
how rare/expensive it might be and a ballpark asking price. .. or just create 1 list with
the info and paint little numbers on each part to identify what it is on the list. That
increases the chance that the kids will treat it all with the right care. Otherwise theyll
likely just crapcan it all in a deal just to be done with it. They WONT take the time
to figure it out but if youve already done all the legwork for them they would likely treat it right.

Another person suggested setting up an arrangement to have a fellow Pontiacer get
involved to take care of it and ensure that your kids dont get overwhelmed and just
toss it all for a pittance..

Sadly when death happens the vultures start circling..

Good Luck

John

[carcrazy]

I'm fortunate to have a couple of sons that enjoy cars. That being said, having a will with specific provisions of who gets what is a good idea! Myself, I'm 62 and starting to clean up. Sold the Corvette, gave one 62 GP (easy project to a son and considering selling my other 62 GP project car as it will be a few more years before I can get to it. The 67 goat will stay till the end!

[bird72]

Buddy I wish you were closer, I'd be Johnny on the spot lovin' to help you.

Thinning down stuff feels good. Do it! Forget long distance fun. Find joy in your own backyard. When you cruise around in a cool vintage car, you bring the fun wherever you go and people want to yack at you. You don't have to hang around know it all fools like us to have fun!

tip of the day: take a meditation class. you will be surprised. it is a stress reliever.

[zeebo]

set it up in a trust as to what happens to your stuff..have an administrator oversee that and hopefully that may ease your mind. ill have stipulations as to what happens to my nice cars after i pull an elvis--and what is sold and what is on loan to museums etc.

[gto_ron]

This has been a great thread, I figure you guys are smarter than any 'experts'. The problem is 'when do I start selling off or giving away my stash of GTO and motorcycle parts?' I'm 65, good health and enjoy wrenching, restoring, paint & bodywork. I know my body is showing wear & tear, my back is troublesome.

What clued you guys into realizing it's time to minimize? Was there an incident, the loss of a close friend, poor health... I guess the list could go on for a long way.

I can't imagine not having my tools and workshop, now I'm starting to worry I'm being a hoarder and will leave a burden to my survivors.

Any advice, even bad advice, is appreciated.


I'm concerned....

[bird72]

Originally Posted by gto_ron

now I'm starting to worry I'm being a hoarder.....I'm concerned....

I came to my senses when I caught myself keeping parts for cars I "might" own someday.