Paul W and I joked a little on Robb's leaving us thread. BUT what do some of our families do with all this equipment? Paul and PestyC have some family to carry on but many of us are sole operators or only have non-family employees. What happens to all this equipment? If you're east of the Mississippi or at least close there are probably enough operating vultures to buy up the equipment. Those of us out here in the wild west don't have that option.
What do you folks suggest?

I had this very talk with an old trapper who was downsizing a while ago.

His wife mentioned to him that if something happened to him she had no idea what to do with the stuff or what it was worth. So he made her up a inventory sheet with item and estimated value.

A word document with a item photo and value wouldn't take forever to make and would save her a lot of headaches down the road.

The photo would be a huge help to any spouse or children who don't know the difference between a 110 or a #3. The description is helpful for those family members who don't know the difference between a 120 or a 330.

To this ol dinosaur that is the equivalent of reversing evolution. Robb gave up on my techno training it won't happen. I don't even know what a word document is. Is the original copy of the Constitution a word document?

Point well taken...... lol

How about a polaroid picture paper clipped to a peice of notebook paper with a hand written description and value?

My wife is going to load everything in the truck, tie in a couple of my still alive friends, then push it over a cliff. She has seen all the movies where it blows up real good so nothing is left.

Al Krier gave a wonderful seminar on passing on your business or equipment, once you have passed on. Salys is right about my son getting sole ownership once my wife and I either retire or croak. But what about his two sisters? It is challenging to make sure that everyone is treated fairly.

There is no one that will take a great interest in my guns, so if they're going to sell them, I left them a used gun catalogue with all the guns that I own, circled. This can be done to traps, lures, heck, almost anything. You could leave a note saying that Mary Ellen should get about 50% of the price for all the really good gear and 20 to 30% for the rest.

You might also want to find someone in your area ( Like a pest control company or a competitor ) that will give your survivors X amount of $ for your customer lists. Most of you can make a nice list from your computer. Mary Ellen will have to decipher Dave's from his scratch pads.

This thread gives me some good ideas. I know this will be an issue if something were to happen to me. It first hit me when I got a new set of MB 550's and was showing them to my wife. I had some Duke 1 3/4's which I had modified and she had to ask, "What's the difference?"

If ya gotta ask, then you wouldn't understand.

I've written about this several times in WCT Magazine, most recently in the Nov/Dec 2013 issue with the death of Dave Hopkins who was the CPA that wrote the Business Shorts column, presented at the 19th WCT Seminar, and was a friend and my wife's employer.

The first step with all this is to make sure you hire an attorney and have a will made and filled. Without a will, state law is what will be used and everything you own can end up in probate court for several years while your family fights it out deciding who gets what.

The second step is to talk with others in the industry and have a plan of action should something happen. For most of us, there will be traps still set that need tended and/or removed. Owning $10,000 in equipment has no value to the surviving family members if it's out at clients and they can't find it.

Another issue will be collecting payments. Some individuals will feel that since you're gone they don't have to pay anymore. If you've just completed a $20,000 job your family should still get those funds. Again, this is where getting direction and a will from a lawyer more than pay's for what you're investing in.