PLEASE make sure you have a will or living trust of some sort in
place.
Last May I asked Orchid for advice on how to help my 89 year old
father sell off some of his large collection of rough stones, amassed
over 30+ years as a hobby lapidarist. I presented dad with your
suggestions, and he decided “not to do it right now”. He never really
gave much concern to the fact that he was mortal.
Well, dad died rather suddenly in September, without any sort of
will or living trust. Now we get to experience the joys of going
through probate on his house. Fortunately we know that there’s nobody
who can legally contest it, but it’s still a huge hassle, and it is
bringing a lot of creeps out of the woodwork who are trying to
collect on debts for deadbeats whose names are similar to dad’s.
As far as the rough stones…now I’ve got half a ton of rocks, some
of which I can’t even identify, and a whole bench full of lapidary
equipment. Dad taught me to cut cabs a long time ago, but I haven’t
tried it in about 20 years. Before I make any decisions on dispersing
the stuff I plan to give it another shot and see if I can figure it
out without breaking anything (does anybody in the Detroit area give
lapidary lessons?).
But if I choose not to keep the equipment, I will have to decide
what to do with it. It would have been greatly helpful if dad had
given me a clue where he wanted the stuff to go (and even more
helpful if he’d written down some basic instructions and ID’d the
stones…).
Don’t do this to your family. We are ‘lucky’ that someone in the
family has some interest in making jewelry. This would have been much
harder if none of us had any idea what that stuff was. Don’t leave
your family in that position. And don’t disrespect your own legacy of
jewelry making by leaving unidentified items to be thrown out, sold
at a garage sale, or dumped into someone’s rock garden. Start a
notebook and at least record the basics of what you do with all that
“stuff” you own, identify all the major equipment, and label
everything. And get your will or living trust done NOW.
Kathy Johnson
Feathered Gems Pet Motif Jewelry
http://www.featheredgems.com
in memory of Ken Buckner “The belt buckle guy”
6/11/15 - 9/21/04