I can only imagine. Wishing strength and peace for you and yours.
Pipe Collection Succession Planning
- Thread starter dunnyboy
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I’ve gotten as far as telling mrslax that all the pipes have a sleeve and box and that these shelves have the valuable tobacco. I’m sure it went in one ear and out the other.
I've processed a lot of it down appropriately for RYO. What I don't get to will be thrown away when I'm gone.
Life is for doing what you enjoy.
Enjoy ever minute and focus on the moment. A close friend of mine was in the same situation and would always tell that old Henny Youngman joke:
Doctor: You have 6 weeks to live.
Patient: But I can’t pay your bill in that time.
Doctor: OK. I‘ll give you another 6 weeks.
Godspeed, brother.
Hmm, gets me thinking - on my list of development updates for thepipetool.com I should add a break glass feature so a dedicated loved one can get into your list of pipes with what you paid for them and get an idea of the true value.
I'd prefer an app for my Apple Watch, so that when my heart stops beating,. my whole cellar and pipe collection just incinerates instantly, taking the rest of the house with it. You could call it a deterrent of sorts.
Pretty sure you can automate that with the whole apple automation app.I'd prefer an app for my Apple Watch, so that when my heart stops beating,. my whole cellar and pipe collection just incinerates instantly, taking the rest of the house with it. You could call it and deterrent of sorts.
In 2023, I helped clear out the estate of a prominent pipe collector in the Chicago area. I suspect he thought his wife would take care of it for him but she was not in good health herself. It took four guys, two more friends of the family, two truck loads, and a rented U-haul to get most of his stuff packed up and cleared. The inventory was then driven halfway across the country and delivered to a man that had arranged to sell the collection on behalf of the estate. It worked out but it was considerable effort and was only worth that effort because the collection happened to be extremely valuable.
My collection of pipes and tobacco isn't remotely as extensive as my example, but it impressed upon me how much of a pain our "treasures" can be for the people we leave behind and I don't want to pass that on. If I see my end coming, I'll do my best to convert my pipes and tobacco to cash so my loved ones don't have to bother with it. If I meet my end suddenly, my wife knows who to call for easy offloading.
My collection of pipes and tobacco isn't remotely as extensive as my example, but it impressed upon me how much of a pain our "treasures" can be for the people we leave behind and I don't want to pass that on. If I see my end coming, I'll do my best to convert my pipes and tobacco to cash so my loved ones don't have to bother with it. If I meet my end suddenly, my wife knows who to call for easy offloading.
I am surprised you have offspring. Not that you had a chance to but that you do. I don't know why I assumed you would have told your lady friends no children not in this flamable world.
Wow. Two truckloads? Mind giving is a sense of what kind of pipes and tins were in this collection. Without being too specific, of course.
But I agree. Don't leave a lot of work for your heirs. They will have enough to do and it can be overwhelming. Cheers.
He was an avid Dunhill collector. His collection included all sorts of Dunhill products like clothing, canes, memorabilia, pens, pipe furniture and pipe accessores. Unsurprisingly, a lof of his pipes were Dunhill but he had drawers full of artisan made pipes as well (S. Bangs, Cooke, Jeff Gracik, many Danish carvers, etc.).
His tins were primarily English blends. Some of the most valuable that I saw were vintage Balkan Sobranie tins from the 70s or early 80s, hundreds (maybe close to a thousand) tins of McClelland English blends, Esoterica blends, Dunhill blends (including some very cool Dunhill recipes made specifically for him that were called My Mixture ____ (his name)".
All of us that were helping were hobbyists so seeing the collection firsthand was pretty cool for us, but the family friends helping had no idea what they were looking at. A tin of Frog Morton's cellar looked no different to them than a tin of Quiet Nights.
I have 5 children. Then we bought a television
A friend of mine is currently dealing with Will issues. It's unbelievable how things can sometimes seem so easy, then turn bad. Many people believe a Will is absolute and final....but that's not always the case.
For all the years I've known this guy, which is over 20, his dad has said in my presence, many times, that his ENTIRE firearm collection will go to his son....my friend. The dad had spent hundreds of hours on my range. A couple months ago the dad died unexpectedly. His Will CLEARLY states that the entire collection goes to his son. The Will also states that under no circumstances do any guns go to the dad's brother.
Well, in steps dad's brother who contests the Will. The papers turned in to the court says that the "under no circumstances....", sounds like it may have been under duress, because that doesn't sound like his brother.
This will not be over quickly. The brother has hired a top notch firm and is not going to back down.
He says for decades, years before the son was born, that all of each other's guns go to the other. He has multiple family and friends who apparently know of this deal. But none of that's on paper.
My friend agreed to talk things over and maybe come to some agreement where the uncle gets a portion of the collection. The brother used that in court as an admission that the son knew of the brothers decades long verbal agreement.
The brother wants it ALL.
This is a collection built over 60 years and is valued at over $500,000.
My friend was told by the judge to not SELL any of the collection until this is resolved. They didn't say anything about giving any guns away.
My wife knows that I keep some important documents in my Google Drive that she should access if I depart.
Among them are my "Pipe Memoirs," and she knows that this includes a description and history of each pipe, and which of our seven kids has expressed particular interest in it.
(Well our youngest in only 2, and he's already got his pipe from me: he insists on putting one in his mouth and sitting on my lap whenever I'm having one, so I gave him a MM of his own to pretend with.)
But each of the six other kids has latched onto a certain pipe that he or she is especially fond of and wants when I die.
The extras will probably be divided among any who want to take up pipe smoking (all my boys intend to, they say).
My personal pipes wouldn't sell for more than $1,500, and while that number isn't insignificant now, it would be relative to the life insurance payout.
The tobacco would no doubt get divided among those who want to smoke, as well.
Among them are my "Pipe Memoirs," and she knows that this includes a description and history of each pipe, and which of our seven kids has expressed particular interest in it.
(Well our youngest in only 2, and he's already got his pipe from me: he insists on putting one in his mouth and sitting on my lap whenever I'm having one, so I gave him a MM of his own to pretend with.)
But each of the six other kids has latched onto a certain pipe that he or she is especially fond of and wants when I die.
The extras will probably be divided among any who want to take up pipe smoking (all my boys intend to, they say).
My personal pipes wouldn't sell for more than $1,500, and while that number isn't insignificant now, it would be relative to the life insurance payout.
The tobacco would no doubt get divided among those who want to smoke, as well.
Yeeeeeahhhh, I definitely want my laptop to burst into flames when I die... at least my browser history.
I don't plan on reaching the end of my life with many things. I guess I'll tell them, these are valuable, these aren't. Take what you want as a memento, sell the valuable ones if you want, put the rest in shoeboxes and leave them on the table at a nearby pipe club meeting.
Generally speaking in most jurisdictions, the parol evidence rule, in the context of testate (I.e., will) contests, prevents the use of outside (extrinsic) evidence, including prior oral statements by the decedent, to contradict or alter the clear, unambiguous terms of a written will.A friend of mine is currently dealing with Will issues. It's unbelievable how things can sometimes seem so easy, then turn bad. Many people believe a Will is absolute and final....but that's not always the case.
For all the years I've known this guy, which is over 20, his dad has said in my presence, many times, that his ENTIRE firearm collection will go to his son....my friend. The dad had spent hundreds of hours on my range. A couple months ago the dad died unexpectedly. His Will CLEARLY states that the entire collection goes to his son. The Will also states that under no circumstances do any guns go to the dad's brother.
Well, in steps dad's brother who contests the Will. The papers turned in to the court says that the "under no circumstances....", sounds like it may have been under duress, because that doesn't sound like his brother.
This will not be over quickly. The brother has hired a top notch firm and is not going to back down.
He says for decades, years before the son was born, that all of each other's guns go to the other. He has multiple family and friends who apparently know of this deal. But none of that's on paper.
My friend agreed to talk things over and maybe come to some agreement where the uncle gets a portion of the collection. The brother used that in court as an admission that the son knew of the brothers decades long verbal agreement.
The brother wants it ALL.
This is a collection built over 60 years and is valued at over $500,000.
My friend was told by the judge to not SELL any of the collection until this is resolved. They didn't say anything about giving any guns away.
Similarly, evidentiary rules such as Federal Rule of Evidence 408, prohibit the admissibility of oral statements made during settlement negotiations.
All cases are fact and jurisdiction specific, but I’m failing to see what the issue is here unless the brother is claiming an inter vivos (while the decedent was living) ownership interest in the guns, such as having actually contributed to their purchase.
I would imagine the valuable pipes like the 'Ripper' pipe and a few others would either be sold or donated. Everything else would probably be sold off, I am afraid I do not believe there are enough 'cutty' pipe devotees out there to soak up my collection but then you never know until you go!