A situation has come up; I haven't had to deal with in the 15 years of working in museums. I have searched the museum_l archives with no luck.  Here is the situation: the institution I work for has been offered three paintings.  The paintings are not suitable for our collections and the donor is fine with our proposal to sell the paintings at auction and have the proceeds benefit the museum.  The paintings were owned by the donors' late wife and he does not want to deal with sending them to auction--I get the feeling he just wants to be rid of them.  I am unsure how to proceed.  I know museums acquire items for fundraising auctions, but what type of paperwork is involved?  He is essentially transferring ownership, but our deed of gift wouldn't be appropriate, would be we use a Gift-in-kind form/letter? Should we request a copy of his wife's will stating these paintings are owned by him?  If the will is in probate, I can go get a copy myself.  Do we have to tag the funds from the auction for collections use, or can they be used for general operating expenses?

If you have had experience with this type of donation I would like to hear how you handle the legal transfer of ownership/the auction and how the proceeds are used. 

Thank-you, Shannon Lindridge, registrar

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