? about when you die- passing on assets... crafty et. al.

Could an auction house take the valuable things and the money raised go to a charity of your choice if there’s no one you want to leave things to? That way someone who really wants the item and a charity benefits too. Or in the case of musical instruments do you have a musical college or similar which would be pleased to receive the items for students to learn on?

I know there is no way my craft items would recoup anywhere near what they cost so if family don’t want them I’m thinking of them going to the drop in centre for folk or the old peoples home.

If you have a friend or friends that you know would appreciate your crafty things, leave it to them in your will and/or tell your DH who specifically you would like them to go to. Same for him and his stuff. My BFF’s mom had a LOT of very nice crafting tools and supplies. As in A LOT a lot, to the tune of multiple thousands of dollars of stuff and she knew her DH had no clue what any of it was worth.

One of her greatest fears was that he would box it all up and dump it at Goodwill, so she told her DD and me that she put it in her will that we were the *only* ones who were to go through it all and decide what to do with it. We could keep anything we personally wanted, let the grandkids take anything they wanted after that, and BFF and I were to decide what to do with the rest. BFF was moving out of state so there wasn’t a lot she wanted to take with her but she sent literal carloads of stuff home with me, “just in case I ever might want to use it, I’ll know where it is.” 😳 There was a lot that I knew I would use, and I actually have been so glad to have it. There have been multiple situations pop up where I needed something specific, and there it was! Honestly, it’s been great.

My brother has a lot of musical equipment and he has told me that my kid can have whatever she wants and to go ahead and sell the rest. I told him he should make an itemized list of everything with a rough valuation for each item, not only for me but so he has it for insurance purposes.

ETA: A friend of DH’s had a sister who had never married or had kids. She was a big scrapbooker and had a ton of expensive Creative Memories stuff. He didn’t know what to do with any of it or what it was worth, and I told him a lot of those punches and tools were expensive so he should reach out to some of her friends to see if they would want it. He didn’t. Said he didn’t know who any of her crafty friends were. He boxed it all up and took it to Goodwill just to get rid of it quickly. 😫 What a waste.

If they still are actively doing the hobby or craft, why not? 

When I “inherited” the stuff from my BFF’s mom, I already had a lot of my own things. A lot of hers was nicer than what I already owned. So I took home her stuff, went through my own stuff and donated whatever of mine that her stuff replaced.

We have no provision for our hobby stuff in our will/trust. While I would like my craft stuff to go to good use after I pass, I am sure most of it will be donated to Goodwill or trashed. If I get to the age where I have to stop crafting, hopefully I would have given it away to the right people/groups before I pass. I do worry about the dog, but I am sure one of the boys will step up and take care of him.

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is a charity that has a very high rating for being fiscally responsible.  They have Thrift Stores in Canada and USA.

They have Relief Sales where 100% of funds raised go to Disaster Relief (all around the world) and to helping people in need.  They use fabric to make tied quilts to people who require warmth.  

All of my craft items & any other household items will be donated to this charity.  

My local Wellspring Cancer Wellness Centre has general crafting, quilting & yarn crafts that are for people who have been affected by cancer, the sick and the care-givers.  They teach quilting and then sell the quilts in their store for fundraising.  This is an excellent programme.  

I have made a note on my will that these are the places where my stuff will be going to.  I do a yearly clear-out of my craft stuff.  

I really hope that nothing will be trashed.

I think it would be reasonable to leave money in your will for care of any surviving pets. I know dh and I have talked about the fact that our current cats maybe our last ones and if not, then we probably would adopt senior cats not kittens. We've had several cats live to 18-20 so at 54, we're conscious a cat adopted now might still be alive when we're in our early 70s and while both our mothers lived into their early 80s, neither of our dad's reached 65.