Going Through My Parent’s Estate

Talking about an emotional task, going through my parent’s estate. We had to make their home presentable so we could put it on the market and at the same time, disperse of their things so when the house sold we could easily move everything out.

Over the past two and a half years, both of my parents passed away. They were blessed to lived a long and happy life, both to their late 90’s. They were both in love with each other until the end. After Dad passed away Mom was heartbroken, she only lived another year and a half.

They were always planning their estate and talked constantly about how they wanted their affairs handled after they passed away. I will say that they did a great job overall. Their affairs were handled pretty smoothly, except for their “things.”

Who gets what?

By that I mean their belongings. They had things that have been in our family since the late 1800’s. Clothing, furniture, pictures, silverware, china, glassware, photographs, family history documentation and the list goes on and on.

I recently discovered a podcast called Who Gets The China. You should check it out . They discuss all of this. Now back to the story…

The family history

Did I mention boxes and boxes of photographs and family history?

Luckily, brother Bob is our family historian. He has been blessed to be the “keeper of the history.”

Getting started with dispersing of their treasures was extremely hard. I spent months looking at everything, trying to find items Mom wanted given to specific family members. I found just about everything on her list.

I made THE decision 😅

After what seemed forever, I finally got started and made the decision. “These items were going to this person, and these items were going to that person.” I started donating clothing, pillows and blankets to NGO’s (non government organizations), like Good Will, etc. Several trips every day. Mom’s home was starting to look neater. She would be proud of that.

Next came boxing up pictures that were everywhere. We didn’t want too many personal pictures out when it was being shown. Just a few.

After that we started boxing up and donating books that seemed to be everywhere. We also donated the kitchenware and glassware. That made the kitchen look cleaner and neater.

The main walk-in closet became the storage space for items that were designated to someone. Each sibling had a spot for their boxes. All of a sudden, Mom and Dad’s things were being packed so they could have new homes.

The house sold

We received a solid offer on the house and accepted it. Now we had a definate date that everything needed to be packed up and moved out. We agreed to a date, now we needed a mover that worked on Sundays. VIP Movers in Columbia was recommended from a neighbor. We called them and booked the move.

Sunday came and they packed everything up and delivered it to four drop offs. They did a great job. Titus was the lead.

My Mistake – Stuff Left Behind

After we moved everything out that family wanted we still had items that needed a home. We contacted a local NGO to pick up the remaining furniture and mirrors. I will say that that was a mistake. I should have contacted a local antique shop or thrift shop that valued the furniture and would see it have another life. The NGO that we used pretty much threw the furniture in the back of a truck, broke a lot of it and then piled what would not fit into a trash pile in front of the house.

Empty House

Now that the house was empty, we swept and vacuumed it for the next owners. It was eerily quiet.