Gun collecting and Estate planning

[Wilmurt]

My wife and I are working on our Estate plan with the lawyer and I am curious how others treat their gun collections in their estate planning. We’ll be setting up a revocable trust but not sure whether or not to put the guns in the trust or keep them out. Would like to hear what others have done. Thanks.

[Kensal Rise]

My Plan:

1) Keep those guns I really like and use.
2) Sell the rest.
3) Buy more cheap wine to drink...

[Reggie B]

Trusts have different purposes but I will assume that you are putting assets in trust to provide an income stream for your beneficiaries. Since collectibles such as firearms only produce income by liquidation it will complicate things such as determining when and how they will be liquidated. Complications generally mean added costs as well. So I would liquidate the ones you would put into trust and invest the proceeds in income producing assets. Trusts can be simple or quite complex depending on your goals, your asset values etc.

[BRDHNTR]

Take them with you and hunt in heaven

[Wilmurt]

From what I understand, our trust is being set up to keep the assets out of probate court and as a means to reduce estate taxes and not to produce income. Our home and other high dollar assets will be put into the trust too. Was just wanting to how others include their gun collections in their estate planning.

[BRDHNTR]

My will states who gets what guns.

[todd allen]

Originally Posted by allen newell

My will states who gets what guns.

That's my understanding of how it works. The older (than me) people I have observed in the past, generally liquidate the expensive stuff, and gift the special/sentimental stuff before they get too old.
Now the question becomes; what is too old?

[6pt-Sika]

A semi close family friend passed within the last two months and he had a gun collection of about 150-200 pieces . His oldest was one of my classmates not someone I would really trust . Anyway the oldest got into the gun accumulation and pretty much gave the majority away for quick money . He sold collectible 700’s that were like new for an average of $300 a piece . This guy was just plain money hungry .

[6pt-Sika]

I told my wife to set a match to me , then put my ashes in a box in the coffin then add two specific 22 revolvers , five specific rifles and three specific double barrels . All but two of those had been owned by my father and grandfather .

[John Knobelsdorf II]

When someone says: "to avoid probate" then (in my experience) everything becomes very state specific.

For us in Texas, probate is not the burden I see in other states. Given that I feel "avoiding probate" makes the planning become specific for the planner's own state of domicile and/or residence(s)* - generalizations become less valuable.

I do respect the idea to "avoid probate" for certain states. If I had property in some states, I would hold it in a trust for just that reason.

Please OP, do share what you work out for yourself.

* Note: the words "domicile" and "residence" are for two (2) different things. Much like "liquid" does not equal "fluid" and "twisted" is not the same as "twist" when referring to steel. And don't even get me started about the "situs" of a trust (another whole topic unto itself that you can find a lot of seminar papers written about).