How To Disperse Of Your Deceased Parent's Belongings

Posted on: 10 December 2014

Once you have had the funeral services, written thank you notes for flowers and cards that were sent, and made sure that all funeral expenses are taken care of, you have another task ahead of you. Perhaps you're lucky and your parents took care of the distribution of property before they passed away. If they didn't, there are many ways that things can be divided by siblings in a fair way. Excellent communication is the key, so that all of you are on the same page.

Things Of A Sentimental Nature — Each of you should have something that was personal to you. Perhaps there's a chair that you rocked your babies in, or a collection of Christmas ornaments you bought for your parents. If it has special meaning to one of you, then hopefully everybody will agree that that person should be able to take it home.

Art, Home Decor, And Furniture — There are several ways that art, home decor, and furniture can be divided. 

  • Take turns picking out one item that you want. Create your own system of who gets to go first, perhaps drawing numbers, or starting with the youngest sibling. As you go through all of your parent's belongings, have one person be the scribe. At the end it will be a simple matter of going over the list to see what each person will take home.
  • Have an auction. Together, place items out where everybody can see them. Using points or actual money, siblings can bid on items they want. You'll need to pick out one sibling to be the auctioneer and another one to be the scribe.
  • Consider having a yard sale. An estate sale would get the job done, too, but you will need to pay for that service.

Coins and Jewelry - This part of the division of property might be the trickiest to perform. Because the value of gold and silver fluctuate, and because individual pieces would more than likely each have a different value, it would be hard to fairly divide them. Consider gathering all the coins and jewelry and selling them for cash that you divide among all of you. The first step is to find a reputable gold buyer, such as Atlas Loan & Jewelry Co, that has been in business for a long time and that has the proper credentials. In selling both coins and jewelry, be sure that the dealer pays you by the gram, not by pennyweight.

  • Coins — Besides the actual current value of the coins, the gold buyer would consider whether the coins were part of a complete collection. If they are antique coins, that would also be taken into consideration. Authenticity would have to be established, as well.
  • Jewelry — A reputable gold buyer will separate your jewelry by karat value which will affect the amount of money you receive. Also, he'll inform you that designer jewelry or jewelry created by an artisan will be better sold by the piece, rather than melted down. Jewelry with precious stones in it also needs to be in a special category.

Congratulations on taking care of this practical but delicate matter. 

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