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death.txt
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1993-09-06
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Death Wish
Not all great auction buys are offered by government
agencies. You may find bargains at estate sales, too.
What's an estate sale? When someone dies, he or she
leaves an estate composed of all his or her possessions.
These often include a home, investment property, a car,
collections, clothing, jewelry, furniture, and more.
Sometimes estates are simple to process: A husband
dies and leaves everything to the wife, who simply keeps
it all. But that's not always the case. A wife,
perhaps, has no desire to hold on to the gun collection
or the fishing tackle that she inherits. She can give
away the unwanted goods, but she probably prefers to have
cash.
Sometimes estates aren't at all simple to
administer. If a widow dies and leaves her property to
her three children, who gets the car,who gets the antique
furniture, and who gets the Rolex? If these items are
converted into cash, the division is a lot simpler.
Suppose a business owner dies, leaving his company,
his real estate, and a large variety of "personal
property," which includes just about everything else.
The executor is required to value the total estate for
tax purposes. If the total comes to $3 million or more
(not unreasonable for a successful business owner), the
total tax bill could top $1 million. How will that money
be raised? By selling off the family business? Not
likely. In most cases, the real estate and the personal
property will have to be sold, generally within nine
months.
Therefore, you can see how many estates, from the
smallest to the largest,need to raise cash. In many
cases, the survivors are neither willing nor able to sell
the items themselves, piece by piece, so they turn the
property over to auction, where you can often find
quality goods at excellent prices.
To find estate sales, check your newspapers. If you
have developed relationships with local auctioneers,
you'll probably hear from them when estates come on the
block.
In major cities such as New York, some auctioneers
regularly advertise estate sales. Sometimes fine works
of art, such as a Hepplewhite side chair or Dresden
covered urns, can be purchased at good prices. At such
auctions, the entire day before the sale may be set aside
for inspecting the merchandise.