Volkszone Forum banner

What happens to your stuff when you die?

2.7K views 16 replies 15 participants last post by  Is it running?  
#1 ·
So slightly morbid thread lol,

I follow this chap on YouTube


and he recently did a video on what happens to your collections, memorabilia etc etc when you pass. A lot of collectors partners, families etc might not have any idea what things are worth or will go on what you told them you paid for it….lol

speaking to my wife she said she would probably chuck most of it !

It fairly made me think insomuch that I have had a wee eBay flurry and sold a fair bit of vw models, queen Mary ephemera, vintage Polaroid stuff , hifi separates etc

so what plans have you in place, if any, for your stuff / cars etc ?
 
#6 ·
My first thought too :)

I remember reading of an old dear landing at a dealer with a pile of her late husbands mint Dinky/Corgi etc from the 50s and 60s who then proceeded to tell them that she threw the boxes out before bringing them to him!!!

I sold a fair bit of stuff a few years ago, always had grand ideas of having it on display, but probably never happen so shifted a lot on except the stuff I really liked or had sentimental value.
 
#10 ·
I've recently seen a couple of cases where guys have had stuff sold on their behalf that had been 'their pension' but hadn't eventually really worked out that way. I'm pretty conscious not to horde too much and leave a headache for my family.

Over winter time when I tend to pull my camper apart in the workshop, I do sometimes worry about something happening to me when it couldn't be sold easily :D
 
#11 ·
All joking apart about my post signature, I am genuinely a little concerned that the value of all my stuff could be seriously underestimated if anything happened to me.

I am lucky in that my son is fast approaching an age where he can be enlightened about the value of some things, and is developing an interest in stuff such that he may be able to leave that value locked in to the item himself, rather than trying to liquidate it.

The biggest issue that I think all of us face is that selling stuff quickly seldom results in a good price for any but the buyer. I am very fortunate to be in the position that I have taken advantage of exactly that scenario in the past myself, but where do you draw a line? My mate bought a lathe, brand new, for nearly £4K. Divorce and short timescales meant he offered it to me for £1K and I damn near took his hand off. But where does that put it's true value? Is getting £1K back on a quick sale good after minimal effort, or should whoever's clearing my stuff try for more? Or should they just weigh it all in for a nominal amount and zero effort? Lots of my stuff has been bought cheaply, but that doesn't translate as evidence of low value...

My dad left a huge amount of "stuff" that my mum pretty much just threw away whenever I was not there to stop her. The value of some of even then was way more than she realised, and today it would be considerably more.

I have the basis of a plan to seperate my domestic accommodations from my workshop which, if it works, will leave the entire "collection" for my son to sort and dispose of entirely as he sees fit.I do need to live long enough to actually retire and downsize from where we are currently living though.

Like a couple of others have said they're doing, I am also having a bit of a purge and sell off of things that I don't think I am going to get around to doing. I'm also not necessarily telling her "exactly" what I have sold thigs for either... ;)
 
#13 ·
My Dad has started labelling stuff for me. Mostly so I know what it is off rather than what it’s worth. E.g he has cylinder heads for a 1934 Alvis that he has had since 1965.

He knows the car stuff will go to me and I’ll look after it.

I don’t have a plan for what happens when I go though. No one to pass it down to.
 
#15 ·
I got thrown in that I was sorting my stuff for my better half, list, values who/where to contact to get rid of the couple of (not very exciting) vehicles if I hadnt got rid beforehand.

Damn if she didnt very quickly pass away before me.

Now I'm the custodian for her things, her archive if you like.

You simply never ever know.
 
#16 ·
my stepfather is a hoarder of useless crap, the spends a lot of £ on it, last time l was back in the old country l told him, that before he'd be in rigger-mortice all his crap would be in a skip.
likely not the best thing to have said, but when you get to the place, there's shit everywhere, you can't sit down.
as far as l'm concerned it'll all go to land fill