Settling Your Estate
By Nancy Fratti
To everyone -- Joyce Brite's letter concerning settling estates is definitely something to seriously consider.
Whilst no one likes to think about it -- and very few people talk about it -- what happens to our 'treasures' should be discussed and written down to avoid any conflicts in the future.
I, personally, have no relatives to leave my business to, -- so what would my non-mechanical sister think of thousands of screws/washers/ bins, boxes and drawers of old dirty music box parts, etc. if I didn't make it known what to do with them? They'd probably get tossed in the next garbage collection! No Joke!
Most of our relatives/friends have no idea of the $ value nor historical value of any given piece.
If you have some unknowledgeable, uninterested-in-your-stuff relatives and friends, might I suggest a letter along with, or in your will, telling of either various dealers or organizations which could be contacted to help dispose of your 'collection', *or* a favorite organization to *donate* your entire collection to. And *definitely* have your collection appraised by a qualified person at least once. And keep a copy of that appraisal with your will.
If you have a favorite piece(s) that you would like a friend or relative to have, *specify* that in your will. It will save many hard feelings, especially when you're not around to settle any argument!
Donating your collection, in part or all of it, helps to insure that
1) you'll know that your collection won't be hauled away, burned, trashed, etc.;
2) it will be partially or completely in the hands of people who know and care about such pieces;
3) some of it may be used to further the education and appreciation of people visiting the organization's collections/ museums; and
4) if the organization can't use some of the pieces/parts, they can sell the surplus to enthusiastic collectors, thus having two benefits: the piece goes to someone who really wants it, and the organization generates some income to further its cause.
As the demographics of MMD show, most of us have lots of 'stuff' and we're not getting any younger! Protect the heritage of these pieces!
Nancy Fratti
MusicBoxLady@Juno.com
hppt://www.quikpages.com/P/musicbox |
(Message sent Fri 28 Feb 1997, 18:27:13 GMT, from time zone GMT-0800.) |
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