I just went through an estate situation as the administrator; my brother and I managed to agree 100% on the division and dispersal of everything. However, it would have been much easier if my mom's will had been notarized; at the time she made the will, with my dad, notarization wasn't required for the estate to avoid probate (at least in my state), and probate lasted over a year.
I probably will end up giving my collections to various family members who would regard them as less than annoyances (anyone know who might be interested in 200+ radio station coffee mugs? lol). I've already done a little dispersal with items that didn't fit into my downsizing plans. (The junkman dropped by and hauled off an engine and transmission that I thought had value but were really just giant paperweights, for example.)
I appreciate all the wise advice in this thread. Now I see that I need to do a little cataloging, and approximate value listing, so that the entire collection doesn't just end up in a CoinStar hopper or on an auction table, going for a few cents on the dollar, depending on who might be in the bidding crowd.