Need some advice on what to do with parents belongings

[Industrial Toys]

My DAD worked at a steel mill on arriving in Canada in the 50s. He would find all manner of treasures going as scrap into the blast furnace. One thing he got, was a 12" name brand (was there any other back then?) adjustable wrench, missing the thumb turn and jaw. He wrote away and probably got that for FREE. That is amoung the few things I think I will keep, when my father passes. FORTUNATLEY, my father never amassed a lot of stuff being allergic to spending money..

 

[ovrszd]

That is exactly the problem I described. When you pass, one sibling gets the truck the other gets a hammer. How many times have you heard the story of family feud originating from an estate.

A poorly communicated estate. I don't believe that's the case with bdog.

 

[ovrszd]

My DAD worked at a steel mill on arriving in Canada in the 50s. He would find all manner of treasures going as scrap into the blast furnace. One thing he got, was a 12" name brand (was there any other back then?) adjustable wrench, missing the thumb turn and jaw. He wrote away and probably got that for FREE. That is amoung the few things I think I will keep, when my father passes. FORTUNATLEY, my father never amassed a lot of stuff being allergic to spending money..

Why would you keep that old thing? After all it's just "stuff".....

 

[Jack Murdock]

I have been cleaning my garage and sheds and basement all summer. On the off chance something happens to me I would not want my wife and kids dealing with my mess of tools and equipment. So I have been giving away usable hand tools to some of the local young people involved in the building trades that could use decent hand tools but maybe couldn't afford to buy them.

 

[bigtiller]

This is what will happen when we are gone
A pre-arranged executor will get paid 2 percent of the total estate. He will sell everything at auction, except the farm ground and send the kids a check.
No fighting, no arguments, no lost time from work, no travel expense and no wondering what dad would want us to do.

 

[Industrial Toys]

You are right. Take a picture of it and throw it (back) in the scrap. I already have a few adjustable wrenches. NICE shiny new ones.

The people are gone from our physical reality. It's our memories of them that is all we really have that matters.

 

[ultrarunner]

My Mom left me her collection of pictures and documents dating back to mid 1800s. I keep them in my Great Grandfather's wooden trunk.

Kind of like a family time capsule...

Some are interested and others not...

Years ago the family farm had a bonfire when the 1800 barn was razed... a few pictures were taken and there was lots of old horse and oxen harnesses, wagons... etc.

A lot of things desirable today...

 

[Lineman North Florida]

My dad died July 20th 2015 and I have left his place just like he got up and walked out that day, but I am down there about every other afternoon working on something or digging in his barn for something that I need for a project , until about a month ago I wasn't willing to do anything with it , but I woke up one night from a dead sleep and said to myself no matter what he ain't coming back , I made my mind up right then that I was ready to start cleaning out his house and when I finish I will rent it out until one of my boys is ready to move in there and at that point it can be their's to work out. I won't give away all his tools I will let the boys build them a barn full of stuff out of them , I think about him everyday and laugh about some of the things that we got into , all the projects, all the wild hogs we caught and tied, horses we broke and all the questions that I have today that I wish I had asked him before it was to late , that I now have to figure out for myself. Good luck with whatever you decide. Charlie.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Makes you wonder. I watched a lot of weird abandoned houses videos, frozen in time often many years ago. Like time capsules. I wonder if relatives simply couldn't deal with disposing of someones life.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

I did not read all posts in this thread, but this is what we did with my parents.

When it became obvious that they could not live in their home anymore, they moved into an assisted living home.

Before they moved, we asked them to go through their stuff and if there was something that they wanted someone to have, to either put their name on it, or give it to them. After that, each of us (we are 6 in my family) went and took what we wanted of their stuff. There were a few items that more than one of us wanted, but we were able to work it out without any issues.

Once they had moved out of their home, we had someone come in and do an estate sale. They kept about half of the proceeds and we got about half. Our share was about $3500 if I recall.

There were a few items left that did not sell, and I gave that to a local church for their garage sale.

After the house was cleaned out, we put it up for sale. It sold for about $225,000 and that money has been put into an LLC that we formed and that money is to be used for their care if needed.

Dad passed away last August, and mom is still in the assisted living home. The proceeds from the house are now being used for sitters to stay with her, since her dementia is getting worse. Her current income is about $3500 per month with dads pension, social security, and long term insurance. Her expenses are about $10.000 per month for the home, sitters, medications, etc. so that money is getting used up.

Luckily my dad put things in place for their care. I need to get that done for me and my wife, and all of you need to do it for your loved ones too.