Your dolls after your death...

@Shamshir has a very good point. I remember a story of a woman who had a garage sale after her mother passed away. Only after someone scooped up all the figurines priced at a dollar apiece, did the woman figure out she had just let her mother's Hummel collection go for pennies on the dollar.
The kind thing to do for the people handling your estate is to help them out by documenting as much as possible while you're here.

 

Part of my profession is estate planning. So I know I’ve taken a lot of precautions. I also know my family. Will they find the documents? Will they understand what they mean? If my husband survives me in a sudden death incident I know he at least understands they have value. I’ve told him where to look for thier info and I’ve saved thier certificates but I don’t know that he’d ever figure it out. Maybe a physical scrap book would be better, with pictures of the dolls next to the certificates.

On eBay for the last few months there has been a lady listing dolls super cheap, I could tell she has no idea what she’s selling, and one photo looked like a cluttered room of stuff. I guessed she was an estate executor and with her most recent listing I know I’m right- her description says it’s her moms collection.

 

Maybe I'm an extreme weirdo but I've made it clear that Annix stays in the family, to be the receptacle of the diamond that my body will be turned into after death, with explicit instructions that a terrible curse will befall my descendants should they sell the doll or my diamond. And I'm *dead* serious about this. Annix is precious now, I'm just upping the stakes by making him precious in death too. Also, ancestral curses are great for keeping wayward children in line.

 

Wayward children? Threaten to write them out of the will! Mwa, ha, ha!
Actually, if someone tries to remove my bjds for my place, an Indiana Jones-like trap will spring into action!

 

I cannot stress having a will strongly enough. My brother passed in Nov. 2017 very unexpectedly (he literally dropped dead in the street while out walking). I'm it as far as close family goes so despite us not having spoken for at least 10 years, I'm the one to deal with... everything. He meant to have a will drawn up. I found the blank paperwork for it among his private papers. But since there is no will, I need to apply to the courts to be appointed executor. I'm still waiting on paperwork to go before the courts (which will be another 6-8 weeks for that decision) and it's been slightly more than 2 months since he passed.

He owned his home, several vehicles, boats and a truly staggering amount of professional equipment. Because there is no will, all things like power, gas, water, insurance for house and vehicles needs to be covered out of my pocket as his accounts are frozen until an executor (me) is appointed. I'm not legally allowed to do anything with anything of his save getting rid of food, toiletries, clothes and items like family photos. Basically stuff that has no value to anyone except for family or that would do bad/rot. Even if he hadn't chosen me as executor for his estate, things would've been much easier with a will.

With the cost of these dolls, it really only makes sense to have a will drawn up. Heck, just having some documentation for those left behind so they know what sort of items they'll be dealing with would be massively helpful. It shouldn't take a huge amount of time to just catalogue even a good sized collection (I have 46 right now and it took me maybe a few hours to list all my guys with at least rough dollar values).

 

@Iron_Dog Sorry about your brother and your long ordeal over his estate. I agree with you completely about having a will (maybe even a revocable living trust if you own real estate). It's the thoughtful thing to do.

 

I have a will but it hasn't been updated in 30 years, i really should as i had another child in that time period.
The family knows i have a doll collection (not just bjds) but there is zero interest. Apparently my doll cabinet, that only had about 15 of my dolls at most made the house "creepy" to some of my kids' friends. Lol.

I've not detailled what I've paid for any of the dolls, only that they weren't cheap.
They basically know to do some research if it comes to them selling the collection. The price of second hand dolls varies a lot and it's impossible to predict the future market.

With bjds being a fairly recent doll type, no one really knows how they will be holding up in the future. Some plastics from the 1950s and 60s is still fine, while others haven't aged well at all. Some resins might not fare well either.
The abjd community is also rather recent and it's hard to predict it's longevity, and hence the second hand market.

Most of my dolls are in storage (sigh) in their boxes with their paperwork, so most of the information needed is there at the moment.

I should make a list.........

 

My niece gets my dolls as she's the one who got me into the hobby in the first place. If she chooses to keep them, fine, otherwise she can sell them. I won't care at that point.

 

Recently, I paid to update my will because my executor had passed away. This time I named an executor with 2 backups to save on that issue. (I asked first if they were willing to be executors. They have executed other wills, so they know what they're in for.) I also sent a letter to my new executor on what to do if there's nothing left of my place (natural disaster or nuclear strike).
Life is so unpredictable - enjoy today, enjoy your bjds.

 

Should something happen to me my husband would keep my first doll as a memento (he got himself one and the characters are ones we RPed for several years in D&D). A few of my friends would get their pick from the rest and then the others would be sold or given away as he deemed fit.

I do have most of my collection insured... that reminds me I need to get that updated. I had plans of doing so this month, but I got the flu and spent my time off sick and was scared to infect my dolls with my germs, so I did not get around to it.

 

I have thought about this and I am going to cremate my dolls; they will be next to me in an urn in my resting place.

 

I worry a little about that. My family knows that the dolls are fairly valuable. I can leave them a list of what they are with photos and if they're inclined, they can sell them. But, I know it would be a lot of work so, whatever is best for them. I've had to help out after relatives have passed and I know it can be a huge burden to deal with so much extra stuff. I'll be gone so, I doubt I'll care about dolls anymore.

 

If I die prematurely, I get the impression that my mom would keep a lot of my belongings including my dolls. If I die after my mom has passed on however, my dolls will end up in the same place as my body: unclaimed and in a landfill somewhere. Unless some apartment cleaner or city worker or whatever decides to take them for their kids or something. Nothing I can do about it either way and it's not like I'll care once I'm dead.

 

My fiance has a pretty good idea what my dolls are worth so I know he would be able to sell what he didn't want to keep. We've discussed this briefly as a just in case, but we like to travel together and spend the majority of our time together so I think it would smart to make a spreadsheet of the name and rough estimate of their value and send it to my parents just in case something happened to both of us.

 

I've thought a bit about this over the years, too. My bf also collects dolls and knows their value. My parents (or at least my mom) and sister know they're expensive, as well. I would hope my bf would keep the ones he wants and also offer them up to our friends who also collect dolls. Then whichever ones aren't "adopted" by family/friends could be sold or maybe even given to people who want to get into BJDs but can't afford them.
Idk I'm kinda coming up with this on the spot. I don't have any records of how much stuff cost me, because I rarely part with the dolls I buy, and I also don't expect to make back what I paid for. But I also don't expect family/friends to have to put up with the hassle of selling BJDs in this market...

 

If I died, I'd probably hand it over to my family to decide what they do with it. If they needed the funds, they could sell it. Unless they decide to bury it with me.

 

I collect limited edition and original artwork, figures, vinyl records, and now dolls. My husband and my stepsons all know that my collections have value, and we have home insurance riders for replacement. I fully expect them (whoever is still around) to sell my collections for reasonable amounts, assuming I still have any of this junk -- though I hope that they decide to keep some things as a memento of the hobbies I shared with them.

But to be honest -- if they just liquidate the stuff and make other collectors in the distant future happy at getting steals on cool stuff, I won't care because I'll be dead lol

 

I think my parents and my husband might take one each for the memory of how much I loved them, and then sell the rest. I'd be fine with that.

 

For me BJD stuff is easy, my daughter would want it all. As far as my dozens and dozens of PVC anime, she doesn't, as a lot of it is kind of sexy. I have an old friend who got me into it years ago and I tried to kind of "will it to him" some time back. Though he's a physician too, he didn't want to have that "morbid discussion" which kind of surprised me. So that will likely all go in the trash. Expensive and sad. Unless....

In addition to your Will (and living will) including appointment of a trustee and executor, you should have a letter of instruction. This can be as detailed and specific as you want in regard to what happens with this or that. So.... My old friend will get a big package in the mail with all of the anime figures. He can do whatever he wishes with it.