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Posted By Discussion Topic: I liked the article..... -- page: 1 2     MG 04-15-2011 @ 5:33 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1262 Joined: Nov 2009 "Preparing For The Inevitable"....written by Dave Graham in the March/April 2011 V8 Times. I want my three cars to go to a "good home" and want them to remain 'original'. My only heir, my son, is not attracted to/by them - he doesn't even know how to drive a car with a manual transmission much less work on them or afford to maintain them. At this time, I'm not enthused about donating them to the EFV8 Foudation. Maybe I'll just have them cremated with me..... Your thoughts here.......? trjford8 04-15-2011 @ 8:21 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 4228 Joined: Oct 2009 Moxie are there any others in your family that might be interested in them? Just curious, but why are you not enthused about donating them to the Foundation? sturgis 39 04-16-2011 @ 2:13 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 74 Joined: Nov 2009 I have been thinking about the same thing lately. I want my stuff to go to a good home. Nobody in my family is interested and sometimes I think they are embarrassed by my place. I think they will sell them to a scr*p dealer. Should a person put them in some sort of trust? IF IT CAN NOT BE FIXED WITH BLASTING WIRE, DUCT TAPE OR JB WELD - IT CAN NOT BE FIXED carcrazy 04-16-2011 @ 11:07 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1675 Joined: Oct 2009 Perhaps the best thing to do is to begin selling off the cars and other items that you are least interested in while you are still alive and have your faculties. This way you will be able to sell them for fair prices to people you believe will care for them. You will spare your heirs some of the hassle of settling your estate. supereal 04-16-2011 @ 6:22 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 All of us of advanced age should consult an experienced attorney regarding estate planning. You will begin by having all possessions valued, including collector cars. Once a list has been constructed, the most advantageous form will be recommended. This will both provide a vehicle (no pun) for distribution of your estate, and reduce the probability that your heirs will ignore your wishes. There are significant advantages to trusts and other formats, including lower taxes. I found that out as the sole administrator of a large estate. 1934 Ford 04-22-2011 @ 4:47 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 576 Joined: Oct 2009 Some good advice here, I'll have to add some to it. #1 "Additional Writings" is a supplement to your formal will. It's a place where you can direct the disposition of property (like cars) and cross out and change the directions at any time. Just date & initial the changes as your rolling stock and desires change. #2 Keep a list of your vehicles and their values as you see them. Then set a price floor 20% below that. (Helps your heirs overcome your inflated values and get the job done) Update the list annually. #3 Belong to a local antique car club and be active. you'll meet the nicest people and find potential new owners for your vehicles when you're gone. Ever notice the really nice cars are never advertised, they just move among car guys from one good home to another. #4 Most Important: Drive and enjoy them every chance you get, their your babies. If they bring you pleasure they have been worth all the efforts and costs. We you reach a point that the upkeep is more than you feel like doing (or can do), it's time to start downsizing. TomO 04-22-2011 @ 7:38 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7256 Joined: Oct 2009 Trying to control the disposition of personal property after you are dead, can create problems for your heirs if not done properly. You do need to have a relationship with a good attorney that does probate and trust work and an antique car appraiser. I suggest that you have your cars appraised every few years and that you leave instructions to have them appraised before they are sold or donated after you pass away. Tom CharlieStephens 04-22-2011 @ 12:46 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 893 Joined: Oct 2009 I following is a generic version of the document that I have stored with my trust. Guidance for Trustee The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to the trustee of my trust regarding the distribution of my antique cars and parts. This document is for guidance and nothing in this document is intended to supersede the basic trust document. If the car is going to stay in the family, you can probably, with the concurrence of the trust lawyer, use a reference such as the Old Cars Price Guide (available at Barnes & Noble book stores) to establish a value for the purpose of settling the estate. If the car is determined to be junk donate it to a charity instead of calling a towing company and paying to have it removed. I would like to think most of my cars don’t fall into this category but is best to be safe. Compare the VIN (or serial number) on the car with the paperwork for the complete cars. You will want to know where this number is located when people come to see the car. A mismatch can kill a sale plus will drag everything out if it is not started early. Get many good digital photos. The photos will be needed to send to people asking questions. Show exterior all views, engine compartment, upholstery, and as many other as need to show car completely. Include defects and problem areas. If the car has a high dollar value (which I define as over $20K based on values shown in “The Old Cars Price Guide”) spend the money and hire a professional appraiser. Talk to the members of local clubs to find an appraiser. Maybe the trust lawyer has one they can recommend. Get a professional appraiser and not someone with an interest in buying the car. As a check bounce this number off of some members of a local club. Check for sale ads for similar cars. Remember that low mileage original cars carry a premium. At this time the rough price is established. Probably the best place for national advertising is Hemming’s Motor news (available at Barnes & Noble). Remember when advertising that it may not be worth the money to get national exposure since most cars will sell within a couple of hundred miles. Ebay is a good place to sell a car or major parts. The problem with EBay is that most clubs/web sites will not accept ads that direct people to an on going EBay auction. It is up to the person selling the car/parts but my tendency would be to skip EBay. Cars and major parts currently covered by trust. The dollar values shown are my rough estimates as of the date at the bottom of this document and should be verified. Dollar value shown next to each entry is a guess at the time this document was signed and is intended to be used for guidance only. The short description is appropriate for placing an ad. Omission of cars and/or parts from this list is not intended to exclude them from the trust nor is inclusion intended to add them to the trust. 1927 Model T roadster___________$XX This car was restored in 1987 and is all black. The car has wire wheels. The engine was rebuilt and the speedometer reset to zero at that time… 1931 Model A roadster___________$XX This car….. 1932 Early V8 2 door sedan_______$XX This car… NOS 1932 Ford engine___________$XX Ownership papers for the cars are located ______________________. All cars have current registration or non operation status so if duplicated ownership documents are required they may be requested from the state DMV. Keys are hanging _____________. Duplicate keys are in my safe deposit box located _________________. Recommended people to contact for support/selling the cars. These are people in the hobby that I trust and have asked for their support should it be required. Their membership in national organizations should enable them to place ads at no cost. If they are to be actively involved in selling the cars/parts pay them. My suggestion is 5% of the selling price or pay them by the hour but everything is negotiable. Model T’s:_______________ Alternate_______________ Model A’s:_______________ Alternate: _______________ Early V8’s:_______________ Alternate: _______________ I would suggest that the person responsible for selling the car utilize the following resources. Go to the national club web sites and find the local clubs. The national web sites are: For Model T’s: mtfc.org For Model A’s: mafca.com and modelaford.org For early V8’s: earlyfordv8.org For Street Rods (they buy stock cars too): nsra-usa.com Start by sending an ad (through the people recommended above to avoid having to pay for the ad) to the national clubs for inclusion in their monthly (or bi-monthly) magazine and then write a letter, call and/or attend local club meetings with pictures. Ask if they would place an ad in their monthly newsletter. If the club is smart they will do this at no cost as a service to their members. If they want more than a token amount for the ad just skip their club and tell them why. Unless you car is very unusual it will probably sell to someone within a couple of hundred miles. Contact all of the clubs within this radius. Remember if you contact the clubs by email to include photos with your email as there is a good chance that someone will forward you email to a general distribution list for the club. You should plan on a couple of months for information to work its way through the system. Newsletters have cut off dates and your request may go through a couple of people before it finally gets to the editor of the newsletter. Advertise the cars with a best offer at the end of the two month period and reserve the right to reject any or all offers. Avoid the temptation to sell to the first offer. If things don’t sell, and it is possible, wait a year and try again. There are several web sites that have classified sections for cars (be sure the vehicle ends up in the right section). Ads are usually free but donations cheerfully accepted. Place these ads a couple of weeks before the other ads are scheduled to be published. These sites are: Fordbarn.com (separate sections for T, A, V8) Ahooga.com (A) http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/ (T, A, V8 plus other makes) The final question is what to do with all of those extra parts. Try to package them with the complete cars to the greatest extent possible. Most of the parts in my garage are in boxes marked to show which car they go to. Another outlet is to contact the local antique auto parts suppliers and get a bid on the lot. Since these people must haul, sort, inventory and sell these parts their prices will be less than if you sell the parts directly. Maybe have an auction with members of local clubs present. After you have sold all that you can donate them to a local car club or tell the members they can have them for free. This is better and cheaper than paying someone to haul them away. One final thought, the money must hand before the cars/parts go out the door. Signed: __________ Dated: ___________ carguy 04-22-2011 @ 2:57 PM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 167 Joined: Oct 2009 Another great point in the article "Preparing For The Inevitable" is to suggest to your heirs that they do not sell any of your cars or other collectible "stuff" for at least 6 months after you have passed. This will give them time to get past the grieving and will, hopefully, prevent the vultures who prey on upset family members and "steal" your beloved car for way below what they are worth. Bill Brown '34 Cabriolet supereal 04-22-2011 @ 3:57 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Perhaps the greatest aid to disposition of any substantial estate is to appoint an institution to administer it. In more cases than most, division of valuable assets brings out sharp claws and teeth which arise from previous disputes or disagreements over the years. An impartial administrator is bound by law to follow the wishes of the decedent. Poorly planned estates can blow a family to bits when expectations are not met. Too often heirs have been led to believe verbal commitments regarding assets, which carry no weight in the actual distribution. This is not a "do it yourself" proposition. I know this from bitter experience as a related administrator.

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