Binko: I'll start a new thread so my "valuable" information is not lost at the end of a thread that seems to be wearing itself out: Valuable in the that sense it's worth what you pay...
A preface: I am both an attorney and CPA, and while gainfully employed I did tax, probate, trusts, wills, and advanced estate planning for coin of the realm.
First: Is your only concern in contemplation of death the disposition of some guns? Do you have a will? What about other assets? And do you really intend to disinherit your kids? What about other collateral relations? If your girl friend dies, what do you get?
Second: You are in a most common relationship given today's treatment of widow/widower marriages. Not only is Social Security a concern, but there's on-going survivor's health insurance and pension benefits, not to mention the fear of co-mingling assets under the expansive interpetations of activist jurists in the various states. If you intend to disinherit your kids in favor of a "girl friend" then you better see a lawyer who does not specialize in traffic tickets.
Third: Nobody wants to "inherit" someone's anal retentive instructions about every little thing that he or she could have best taken care of when alive, present, and accounted for. I spent a professional career dissuading prospective dead people that when it's all said and done, the greater mass of men and women want cash, unless there is some sentimental attachment to a heirloom. I understand your girl friend does not need or want your guns, except for the cash they represent. And you plan to keep them to the bitter end, while having the ability to buy and sell along the way. You should consider the following:
Fourth: Hire an attorney who is likely to survive you. Make sure he understands the nature and extent of your assets; make a list for his file. Have a will prepared according to your wishes; also a medical power of attorney, and possibly a durable power of attorney if your situation warrants it. You can barely be admitted to a hospital for an overnite stay without having the medical power. And if you "linger on" incapicated the durable power greases the skids for cashing checks and other day-to-day activities that went so smoothly when you both were able and fit.
Fifth: Make sure your girl friend can legally possess firearms. In Illinois everyone needs a "Firearms Owners Identification" card. Check your state's requirements, if any. Assuming she legally takes possession of your guns under your will, or by gift in contemplation of death on your death bed, then there should be a pre-existing relationship with an FFL who can handle necessary transactions like mailing, etc. But believe me, all the "fine tuning" of which auction house charges a point less, or which Internet auction site is more user friendly, is gonna evaporate in one swell foop of realizing ready cash for stuff she really doesn't want...so let me say this, not as a lawyer:
Sixth: My dad died within the last year at 91; my wife's dad died in July at 99; both had "girl friends" who they would have wed years ago but for the Social Security, Pension, Health Ins issues, so "I've been there, done that." Yet married or not, there was no expectation that their respective girl friends would inherit (nor the old gentlemen on the chance that they would survive). Disinheriting natural children is un-natural, so I can visulize the "hell to pay" in today's never-ending litigation system of natural-born entitlements when things are otherwise. If you are committed to favoring your girl friend over your natural-born issue, you better also be committed to spending the $$$ to get it right.
Seventh: I have had dealings with James Julia and Pat Hogan (RIA) and they both earn their money by providing a service. Julia's Auction charges 15% seller's premium on guns that are nothing special, and maybe zero % on the Czar's gun, or that Colt Walker cataloged to go for $500,000 to $1,000,000 in the catalog that just arrived FedEx. Julia's also charges a flat rate 1% for insurance. And then there's packaging, postage, and USPS insurance (only up to $5,000 as I recall).
Finally: My sense of of your bits and pieces on the prior thread of whether this fits for you depends on the sound value of your guns. Anything that is not guaranteed to go for $1,500 and up is probably not worth shipping to a major auction house (unless you have several such guns). But even so, your attempt to make valuation or sales venue part of your disposition decision seems to be the proverbial "hand from the grave," and is overkill. In this context, I read with ammusement the postings of some who claim to have established "trusts" to insure that the apple of their eye will hang like an albotross around the necks of their heirs in perputituty. My God! We're talking about guns! Excessive concern about your girl friend's ability to realize on her assets after you are no longer in the land of the living is only going to put a monkey on her back. I am against monkeys and albotrosses.
There's nothing worse for a dealer, auctioner, or retail purchased than trying to deal with a "widow" whose deceased husband planted the poison pill of his valuations, giving strict instructions of how or where to sell, etc. Times change. Selling venues change. Prices change. Just make sure that your intention that she get these assets at your death is bullet proof, the rest will work itself out so long as she has a general idea of current value and understands that well-known dealers and auction houses get a cut of retail. People who inherit guns they neither need or want aren't going to all of a sudden start selling that for which they lack familiarity on the Internet, or start setting up at gun shows to sell at retail. Nuff Said, EDM
