The Most Expensive Colt I Ever Traded.

[brucev]

First the backstory. While a student in seminary (79-82), I bought a extremely nice nickel plated Model 19. Later my brother swapped the TT/TH from a Model 14 into my pistol. Result was a wonderful revolver. Gave it to my father when I graduated simple b/c I wanted him to have it. Years later, it went missing from his bedside table. It got replaced w/ a COLT Detective Special (1970 era). Upon his death (9/2007), the revolver came to me. All was cool.

What was not cool for my SIL (wife of my deceased identical-twin) was that I was executor of the estate. There was less that $700 ... and two very small houses. The night of the visitation at the funeral home she approached me about excluding my younger brother with everything being split 50/50 between her and myself. This was of course refused. She got so loud that I moved her to a private room where she really got going. I finally told her to get on her broom and fly away. The following day I conducted my father's funeral. My SIL managed to maintain control of herself. Cool.

I decided the houses would be appraised and then sold with the proceeds divided minus expenses. She exploded. But, the following year (4/2008) after two appraisals taking of course the higher estimate things were settled. I bought out my brother and my SIL for one house. I then gave my brother the necessary cash to buy out my SIL for the other house. I gave him my interest in the house. That way he and his family were able to have a home that no one could take away from them.

Before the signing of the papers, etc., the lawyer of my SIL contacted me stating that unless I turned the COLT over to my SIL, she would refuse to sell her interest in the house to my younger brother. So ... on the appointed day I sat at a streetside cafe drinking coffee w/ my brother watching the lawyers office. A little late but nevertheless finally arriving, we watched my SIL drive up and park. My brother and I walked on over. I was carrying my brief case w/ the COLT inside along with a cashiers check for the full amount of the house. Just before she was to sign the papers ... my SIL looked across the conference table at me and said, "Well!?" I opened my briefcase and removed the COLT. You could have heard a pin drop. The lawyer's eyes got real big. My brother just stared at me. I slid the COLT across the table to my SIL. She signed and the deal was done.

I thought my brother was going to pop! We didn't even get to the parking garage before he was asking questions. I explained everything to him. He was angry saying it wasn't right. I said told him it was alright, "She just bought the most expensive COLT pistol that has ever been bought by anyone in Macon, GA." We walked back over to the cafe where I ordered coffee and he ordered a beer. As executor, I was responsible for the disposition of my father's property. The houses were sold as is. Behind the house my brother bought was a large auto shop with lots of tools, lifts, equipment from over 35 years of work. These were not part of the sale. I asked my brother what he thought everything was worth. He figured it was all together worth at least the price of the house given that there were all kinds of equipment as well as a front end loader, etc. So ... I offered him a deal. I asked if he had any money on him. He had $13 in cash. So ... I handed him a contract already signed by myself which sold to him the garage and contents for $5 cash. I specified cash. He thought I was kidding. I wasn't. I took his $5 bill. He signed. I took the $5 bill and paid for our coffee and beer. Then I gave the waitress $5 for the tip. I contacted the lawyer of my SIL to give her her portion of the sale of assets. A few days later I received a letter from the lawyer in behalf of my SIL telling me not to ever seek to contact her except through her lawyer. Cool.

It has now been 10 years since that little COLT got traded off. It was I think the most expensive COLT pistol ever bought in Macon, GA. It is certainly the most expensive COLT I've ever traded in my life. My brother found enough old cars/trucks in the bushes behind the garage to completely replace all the money spent to buy out our SIL. What is more, there was enough scrap steel, aluminum, motors, etc. to completely renovate the exterior and interior of the house with a little bit of money left over for coffee and such necessaries.

Have seen my SIL one time since that day... in a Cracker Barrel restaurant. She looked like life on a broom stick had not been bad for her. My wife and I spoke to her briefly and then exited after finishing our meal. Apparently she forgot that she only wanted to communicate with us through her lawyer. A few months ago I was able to find a nice S&W 19-3 like I originally gave my father. It isn't nickle, but it'll do. Put it in a nice black Bianchi 5BH-L. Hope to find a brown Bianchi 111 Cyclone. That's what I gave to my father back in 1982. The COLT? Have no idea what happened to it. I'll never see it again. I can't afford such stuff. I don't have a garage filled with equipment to trade for it.

I thought long and hard about writing this little post. Wrote it the other day and then threw it away. This morning ... wrote it again. Posted it. I may be wrong. I may be right. But I'm about to start my third mug of Death Wish coffee. I'm about to go to the church office and get some work done. And it's about 10 years now since that afternoon in Macon when I traded off that little COLT so that my SIL would sell out her part of the house to my brother. And I do think that that $5 tip was fairly decent considering the price of that cup of coffee for me and that glass of beer for my brother. I think that $5 was a good price to get for what my SIL called "junk" out behind the house. Sincerely. bruce.

 

[Bekeart]

My story:

Currently involved in an estate dispute.
My sister was appointed executor and does not know and/or understand her duties and limits.

When confronted about her attempting to do distributions that are not according the the will ,
Her answer is often "But Mom said ..." .

 

[snowman]

Hello, Bruce. I obviously lack the financial acumen to grasp everything you did there, but I think I got the gist of it. What is very clear to me are your values, which I share, and have shared for most of my life. You made certain that what was most important, looking out for your brother's welfare, was cared for. I salute you. . .my brother.

Regards,
Andy

 

[Kevin G]

Bruce, you got the best end of the bargain.
College for me was a military academy about three hours away. Freshman year, Dad liked to drive me back on weekends that I came home.
Those rides provided me with some of the best quality time I shared with my Dad.
My dad and his brother Bob had five aunts who were all old maids. These ladies all had successful careers, teacher, legal secretary, librarian, etc. and lived together in a comfortable retirement.
Aunt Jenny, the last one, passed away my freshman year. Uncle Bob was the executor. My Dad was a quiet, soft-spoken, working man, a good man. Bob, on the other hand, was a glitzy fast talking CPA who was always working on some scheme.
Apparently some of the things Bob did with respect to the estate were questionable. I was aware of this through hearing my mother talk to Dad. She did most of the talking while Dad sort of had to listen. It was pretty clear that Dad didn’t want to get into a confrontation over this. We could certainly use the money, Dad was working as a valet parking cars at a restaurant at night to put my brothers and I through school.
One Sunday afternoon when dad was driving me back to school I asked him why he was letting uncle Bob screw him over Aunt Jenny’s estate. His response gave me a value that I try to live by today.
He told me that the money wasn’t necessarily his, he’d never counted on it, and he wasn’t going to fight over it. He aknowledged that some money would certainly be handy but there were limits as to what it was worth to him. He told me that his brother and him had never gotten along, this might be the last interaction he would have with Bob, if he and Bob were to part peacefully it was well worth the cost of Bob coming out ahead financially. No matter what happened our family would be fine. He was a wise man.

 

[Wyatt Burp]

Bruce, sounds like you kept a fair level head during this tough situation. There’s always one kid who causes trouble (I know!). But I’m trying to follow what made the Colt expensive. Was it expensive to your sister because by her demanding the gun and pay out she cheated herself out of more in the long run? And by your brother legally paying $13 (I think it was) did your sister get a % of that thinking it would be thousands assuming it would be sold at market prices? Like that old story where the cheating husband told his wife to sell his Porsche in the paper prior to their divorce and she did but put a price tag of fifty bucks, or something like that. I’ll go reread that part of your post.

 

[jscheck]

Nice!

Bruce, I not only understood your post I applaud your handling of the situation! That was not only slick, it was just. That was a great way to handle a tough situation.

 

[GB]

I have been down this same rough and rocky trail. My brother and I had to take my sister to court in order to get her to settle my Dads estate. ( got most of what we had coming but none of the others in the family got anything) After it was finished, my brother and I spent about 40 grand apiece to see that the rest of the family got what our Dad wanted them to have.( A small price to pay to see that younger members of the family got what they had coming, after all it was all Dad's money to start with) As a side benefit, I have not spoken to my sister in almost ten years and if I outlive her, I will travel to her gravesite and water the grass!

 

[bummer]

Death brings out the best and worse in people, but for all the material things its the memories that mean the most

 

[Bullseye 2620]

Bruce, you are one heck of a guy. I could use more words to say it, but I couldn't add anything to the sentiment. I'd be honored to have a beer or a cup of coffee with you any day.

Your SIL? Not so much.

 

[petepeterson]

I'd be torn. It is a Colt DS, after all....

 

[brucev]

Bruce, sounds like you kept a fair level head during this tough situation. There’s always one kid who causes trouble (I know!). But I’m trying to follow what made the Colt expensive. Was it expensive to your sister because by her demanding the gun and pay out she cheated herself out of more in the long run? And by your brother legally paying $13 (I think it was) did your sister get a % of that thinking it would be thousands assuming it would be sold at market prices? Like that old story where the cheating husband told his wife to sell his Porsche in the paper prior to their divorce and she did but put a price tag of fifty bucks, or something like that. I’ll go reread that part of your post.

Re: What made the COLT expensive. My brother and I had already agreed to do the clearing of brush/trees on the back of the property. We would do all the labor, etc. My SIL would bear no expense. We had no idea at all that those bushes, vines and trees were growing over so much stuff. By the time the day came to sign the contract, I had seen enough to know that there was enough scrap to equal more than twice the value of the revolver. When we got everything cleared away, the result was we found three mustangs, a pinto, a 64 ford fairlane, several pickup trucks, two vans and a scrapped front-end loader that weighed over 20K pounds. My brother sold the mustangs. The other vehicles were beyond fixing. He sold them for scrap steel. He build a good trailer using a unused house trailer axle. He hauled everything on the trailer. In the last run over to the salvage metal facility, he sold the scrap on the trailer, pulled the tires off the trailer and sold the trailer. We also found a lot of old brick/cement blocks which I helped my brother clean. He sold this locally. All in all, he came out real good. Must admit, had I known how much stuff was under the overgrown bushes/trees, I'd have asked him to cover the tip for the waitress!

For a while I felt real bad about the way I treated my SIL. I spoke with a family friend who was very knowledgeable of how she handled the estate after my identical-twin brother died. Apparently she utterly failed to follow his will. Some of the things my brother wanted my father to have would have meant so much to him. The money value was really insignificant. But, it would have meant a lot to my father to have the few things that were to have been given to him. It was wrong for him to never be told much less even be allowed to see the photographs, etc. Had I known how much money would be made from the scrap and salvaging the bricks and blocks, I'd have considered that I needed to make a division. One third of the total would have bought a a pickup truck load of Detective Specials with ammo and targets and staple gun.

My wife and I offered to give her the rent off the house we wanted to buy for two years. That would have paid for her to finish college. At the end of the two years, we would then pay her the entire lump sum of her one third along with us paying the taxes, fees, on the property. She would have come out very much to the better financially. As it is, she walked out with one third of the house my brother got, one third of the house I bought and a COLT Detective Special.

I think what was done was only just. My little brother and his wife are of modest means. Nevertheless, they helped my father take care of my mother for 8 years after strokes left her a vegetable. And, he helped me take care of my father for a little over 5 years till his death. My SIL showed up the last two weeks of my father's life. Other than that, I can't recall ever seeing her around the house to help with my mother or father. She considered them low class and said so to my wife. Apparently she thought my wife would agree with her point of view. Let's just say she badly misread my wife and what my wife thought of my parents. Sincerely. bruce.

 

[Wyatt Burp]

Gotcha, Bruce. Sounds like your dad's property was like those hidden gold mines on American Pickers. Could your dad have redone his will or Trust to skip the S-I-L and have it go to your brother's kids if he had any? Or dump her off it altogether since he knew she was a snake when it came to your brother's wishes?

 

[Grayfox]

Dear God, I've been through some bad stuff when a loved one passed. I could go into several really bad stories, but let's just say that greed knows no bounds.

 

[soFlaNative]

Remind me not to horse trade with a Macon preacher.

 

[Protocall_Design]

Ancient Chinese proverb I just made up - "Where there's a will, there's a relative."

 

[brucev]

Gotcha, Bruce. Sounds like your dad's property was like those hidden gold mines on American Pickers. Could your dad have redone his will or Trust to skip the S-I-L and have it go to your brother's kids if he had any? Or dump her off it altogether since he knew she was a snake when it came to your brother's wishes?

My father was tender hearted toward his three daughters-in-law. I am proud that he treated them so well. He wrote the will before the death of my identical-twin brother. He didn't probate my mother's will, so when he died, his will was the one I had to follow. However, with the agreement of both my younger brother and SIL, we follow my mother's wishes regarding household items. My mother's ring was left to my wife. It turned up in a briefcase my father had left in his bedroom closet. He had a 4th grade education. But you wouldn't believe the diamond he bought my mother for their 25th anniversary. So very glad it didn't grow legs and walk off like a few other items that never did turn up.

My father would not talk about end of life issues. It was a mistake. I would respectfully encourage everyone on this board to prayerfully and thoughtfully think through what their loved ones will face after the funeral, etc. You can do a lot to make things easier on your family. It makes no good sense to not sit down and simply write out how you would like to see things handled. JMHO. Sincerely. bruce.

 

[brucev]

Remind me not to horse trade with a Macon preacher.

No! We'd get along just fine! We'd sit around drinking coffee and talking about this that and the other thing. Then you or I would float the idea of a trade or something. We'd drink a little more coffee. Sooner or later we'd both figure out a deal that would make us both happy! That's the kind of horse trading I do. We'd both go home happy. That's the way it's supposed to be done! Sincerely. bruce.