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I am working on a will and I want to bequeath one of my pistols to a friend. We have sequential SN# and he should have the pair in the event of my demise. It feels a bit odd to put the SN# in the will. That seems like the best way to get the one I want to said friend, while the remainder of my firearms would stay with my boys. Thoughts? Experiences?

I would suggest you consult an attorney on setting up your will and any trust. They usually are not very expensive and will be able to help you lay out any 'one offs' you might have for bequeathing items you might want to go outside of the immediate family.

A family friend of ours was going into heart surgery, and specified that I was to receive her firearms (as she believed her kids would just sell them). Unfortunately, she never woke from the anesthesia. I didn't want to make trouble for the executor, as there were family "issues". When I asked about them later, I was told "she (the executor) sold them to someone in the park".

If it's important to you, or the receiver, make SURE the executor will do as you requested.

Keith B wrote:I would suggest you consult an attorney on setting up your will and any trust. They usually are not very expensive and will be able to help you lay out any 'one offs' you might have for bequeathing items you might want to go outside of the immediate family.

Keith, I agree completely. I am watching a friend's family self destruct over two minor children left without parents and without a will describing their wishes. It has motivated me to address a shortcoming of mine, by getting together a simple will. We do intend to have a better document (with a trust so that my kids wouldn't end up with a monetary landfall at 18) in the near future. In reality, the bequeathing can wait for the nicer, more robust document. I just thought I'd ask in case someone had done it before. As a side note/digression, anyone with any amount of assets and minor children, really should look into trusts. Most of us probably don't want our 18 year olds given a sizable chuck of disposable income, especially while they may be mourning and not on their "A game." A trust allows for a reasonable distribution of those assets, either over time or at a later time.

sjfcontrol wrote: If it's important to you, or the receiver, make SURE the executor will do as you requested.

Thankfully, both my executor and his backup are gun guys. 1) I believe that they would do as asked. 2) at a bare minimum they wouldn't sell them in the park. :-)
First, my condolences. Mercy, I do understand how that sale must have stung just a bit.

One further note; I have a prepaid legal service that is offered through our company benefits. I didn't get it for CHL, just general legal items. We were able to get a will drawn up with a trust for the daughter at no additional cost to us as it is included in the basic services under the membership. That in itself was well worth the small monthly fee.

A guy I know had a friend that passed away owning a decent sized business. The guy I know was the executor of the trust. I think the kids get hold of the money at age 30 or something like that. I don't know any details. I know if someone dumped money on me at age 18, I doubt I would have spent it very well. I would probably have done much better by 25 or 30. If it is big money, 30 forces the kid to work for a little while.

To further reflect poorly on me and showing I should have already had this done, I went to a Trust seminar about two months ago.

They strongly suggested half or co-trustee at 30, and full trustee at 35. First, and this is all in general terms not exact, this lets a person's child go through their first divorce without losing half of your assets to a spouse you wouldn't have likely met let alone cared about. That is just a statistic, that half of all marriages end at. Might as well plan for it even if that feels ugly. Secondly, most of us are relatively mature by 35. Hopefully if our kids take the cash at that point and buy a corvette, it also means they have some retirement plans and education plans for any of our grandkids already in place.

goose wrote:Secondly, most of us are relatively mature by 35. Hopefully if our kids take the cash at that point and buy a corvette, it also means they have some retirement plans and education plans for any of our grandkids already in place.

If someone isn't a responsible adult by 35, another decade or two probably won't make much difference.