Reply to clearing out parents' house with fighting siblings

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP you *cannot* just go into the house and take stuff, even if you believe nobody wants it. There is a process and you have to handle it.

[b]For the supposed valuables, there’s probably little of actual value, and it’s the executor’s duty to take care of that. Let that one go. [/b]

For donations, that is also up to executor. Let it go.

For items you want, all you can do is make a list and send it to the executor and other siblings and *request* to take them. Put them all aside in the house in one place.

The most I think you can reasonably do to impact the process is suggest that everyone get a fair turn to come take the items they want. But that’s just a suggestion that the executor may or may not take. [/quote]

But make sure that if the executor sells the items of value, that they report the amount and split it among the beneficiaries. While there might not be items that are wildly valuable, amounts can add up. We had a lot of items that were worth under a hundred each than a number worth maybe a thousand.  We were surprised at how things add up and you end up with say, an extra $5000 per beneficiary. I realize that for some people here $5000 isn’t a lot, but for me and my siblings, it was a very welcome extra. 
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That’s more reason for the executor not to bother with selling items. More work to sell and more paperwork to track costs and sales pricing. In some cases, you have to deal with crazy and suspicious and hoarding inheritors. No, thanks!

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And that is fine if you have an honest executor. If you have one who is not trustworthy, you have to keep an eye on them.

And if the executor doesn’t want the work of selling things like jewelry or other valuables, they should inventory them and then make them available to all the beneficiaries.

Before they died, my parents sent me a small box containing “costume jewelry.” Once, when I was wearing a piece that I liked, a friend who works in a jewelry store commented on how nice it was. I said, thanks, it’s just costume jewelry. She asked if I was sure and suggested bringing it in to the store. Turned out to be white gold with real stones- not costume jewelry at all. I then took in my little box, and it turns out that many of the pieces are real and even some of the costume jewelry is relatively valuable because of the artist who made them.

The pieces in that little box added up to a nice sum. If that box had been in the house when my parents died, the executor would have either thrown them out or kept them for themself. The executor doesn’t own the personal items in the home, the beneficiaries do. The executor has a fiduciary duty to take care of the items and pass on either the items or their value to the beneficiaries. 
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