Have you ever considered what would happen to your doll collection if you were to die tomorrow? Who gets to sell the collection and where they sell it should be established now to relieve your family of having to research your collection and make uninformed decisions at a time when they have no desire to do so. With proper planning and documentation you can rest assured that the selling of your doll collection will be left to someone knowledgeable in this field.

1. Make a detailed inventory of all the pieces in your collection and keep it up to date. The idea is to put down the kind of information that would help someone, other than yourself, understand what you think your collection is worth. Write down anything that would help a non-collector (your family) communicate what is in your collection.

2. Make sure that all receipts, checks and appraisals are placed together in a folder and that your family is aware of this folder and where it is stored. Planning for a 'non-tax event' will greatly depend on how the collection is sold. You want to sell directly to other collectors if possible. If the receipts are at their disposal the family can off-set any gain they make on the sale against the original costs of your purchase.

3. Choose an impartial person, preferably a well-known doll collector or close friend, to act as an "expert" on your collection. Make prior provision for this person to buy something out of the collection if they so wish. This will avoid any ill feelings between the family and the elected person at a later stage. Make sure that all contact details of this person are listed with your inventory list.

4. Dealers have connections with a large number of buyers and provided that you are aware of the value of your collection and you can trust the dealer it may be a wise option to elect a dealer to handle the sale of your doll collection.

5. Photograph your doll collection with a good digital camera. This will save anyone else the task of taking photos should the need arise to place your collection on eBay.Again, the description of each item is absolutely essential for this process.

6. Selling on Ebay may not always result in your collection fetching the highest prices but will help to speed up the process should your family wish to do so.

7. If you have a friend who is an expert and can lug your collection to a show and sell the collection for your family, again there is no problem.

Prevent your doll collection being sold at an auction because of lack of sufficient planning on your part. If you follow the easy steps above at least the family will have something to work with and you will be comfortable knowing that your family's and your doll collection's interests have been taken care of.