Reply to clearing out parents' house with fighting siblings

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Op, you and siblings should go and take what you want from house.

[b]Then, hire a good estate company.[/b] I did this with my mom's stuff. They sold a lot, donated the rest and only a small portion actually went to landfill. We didn't make much money but most of it went somewhere. My one regret is that we were so rushed that Ididn't take more things--small sentimental things I realized I would have liked. Not high value but a few small silver bowls ,pictures, stuff I grew up with. There were also some asian antiques (18-19th c mostly) that I think were actually worth more than we were told (because I hung onto one that they said was worth 1k, and it sold at auction for 20k so the rest may have equally been poorly appraised).  Wish I had spent a little more time researching those, maybe keeping a few. The things that were once expensive but no one really wants now though are high end table linens (like 18 foot handmade lace tablecloths from the 1920s); china and brown furniture. [/quote]

I wish people would stop recommending this -- it's a tremendous waste of money. Estate sales companies exist to enrich themselves, not you, and while it may be a reasonable choice if you're the last surviving member of a family, throwing money away like this is not going to promote good feelings if you're doing this with other heirs unless you're all just too checked out to cope. But in general, keep what you want, see if an auction house wants any of the rest of it, and call a junk company that also donates for the rest. [/quote]

I strongly disagree. Most senior houses are crammed with junk. The stuff is literally not worth the adult children's time and effort to sort and sell/donate themselves. The estate companies let the beneficiaries take what they want, then sell the rest. Often they mix estates together in one house so customers can pick and choose from a variety of items. The companies take the lion's share of profits, but that's normal, since they've done all the work.

I've bought a lot of furniture and paintings at high-end estate sales, and I can tell you, the prices are not what you think they are. 
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