[vcf-midatlantic] Downsizers, Sick, Old, and Dying Collector -- Special Interest group to focus on "artifact wills"

[Sentrytv]

I agree
Setting up a presentation with a professional who can talk about setting up a will or trust but most importantly how to properly document and organize your collections.

I can only assume that most of us do not have sufficient basic insurance coverage of the collection or documentation to provide to insurance companies in case of disaster.

Not to mention organization of the collection.

I know my basement is a complete disaster and could use all of the above!

Sent from:
My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.

> On Mar 27, 2024, at 2:01 PM, David Gesswein via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic at lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
> 
> Its a subject of interest. Hopefully I have a while left before it gets
> critical.
> 
> For your 1) below I'm not sure how practical that is. From what I have seen
> of storage units it can be hopeless to evaluate contents without a huge
> effort. For better organized collections may be possible but having person
> with knowlege of collection area and time to visit may be tough for
> having as a general service. I know I have started on a proper inventory
> a couple times and never completed for my own stuff.
> 
> For 2) seems to be where to start. Provide people with information on
> how they should prepare for the eventual transition of a collection. Would
> be a good VCF talk also.
> 
>> On Wed, Mar 27, 2024 at 05:18:09PM +0000, Bob Roswell via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
>> While on the sad topic of Bryan,  I would love to start/participate in a special interest group to focus on best practices for "artifact wills."
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> As the curator of a museum, I get calls, and emails many times a month from (usually) widows and children trying to figure out how dispose of their loved one's collection.
>> 
>> There is a mature industry for estate planning, but they usually don't include the collections of stuff.  Some general articles exist like https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/estate-planning-for-memorabilia-collectors
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> I could imagine the following results off the top of my head:
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 1)  Documentation Corps: VCFED would have a corps of volunteers who could visit home/storage units while the collector is still alive.  We could document what is there and capture oral histories from the collector.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 2) Publish a document on disposition of the stuff
>> 
>>                *  Donation to museum (with tax write-off)
>> 
>>               * Gift to other individuals
>> 
>>               * Consignment or Swap Meets
>> 
>>              * Ebay/Craigslist
>> 
>>                * High end Auction houses (RR Auction Etc)
>> 
>>              * Electronics Recyclers
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> The document would provide contacts as well as a brief overview of the process.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Anyone interest?
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Bob Roswell
>> 
>> Curator, Computer Museum @ System Source
>> 
>> https://museum.syssrc.com
>> 
>> broswell at syssrc.com
>> 
>> 410-771-5544 ext 4336
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>