Hi all

My grandfather passed away (at ripe ol' age of 90) a couple weeks ago. And --->I<--- have been chosen to clean out his estate.

I'm not sure what to expect. I imagine some trips to Goodwill. An estate sale over the weekend? Packing boxes to mail stuff that people want to keep. Calling utilities to disconnect. Posting some items for sale on craigslist.

Would 6 days be enough time? His existence was rather humble. Not much stuff, I don't think.

Has anyone done this before? Do you have any advice?

heartbeatocean said:

you'll find stuff there that might be worth selling if nobody wants to keep it and it has value, that part might be time consuming.

My condolences

heartbeatocean said:

Did he have a will? If so, you may want to check that before you start throwing/giving things away.

heartbeatocean said:

my mom and her brother and sister took a month to clear out my grandparents house after my grandmother died.

she had lived there for 56 years.

they spent the first week clearing out the stuff that was all ready promised to people, the good stuff in my grandparents house had been divided up for at least 20 years nothing like being prepared right? than all the family picked over little sentimental things they wanted.

than they divided stuff up into donations, yard sale/estate sale, and trash.

My love to you, Lady.

grandpa

I'm too sentimental.

I want to keep that tax paper from the 1940 declaring 100% tax over what they made in the depression to prevent war profiteering. yeah, because a farmer was going to make heaps of money.

I want to keep that little journal where he wrote in expenses like $2 for a hotel, $1.40 for an oil change, $5 for a new tire...

I want to keep his favorite rocking chair even though it doesn't go with my decor.


Good luck. I would only say be careful what you throw out. That chair might look terrible to you but to someone from good will who has nothing, it looks perfect.

Thanks, everyone.

The plot thickens.

A few minutes ago, I find out my grandfather had a will and I found out who has it. We had already made plans of what to do with stuff, but now the will could add a new twist. The landlord won't release anything until he sees documents.

I've never done anything like this before and am feeling stressed. The landlord called to say he needs to get everything out ASAP to rent the apartment. I'm in California, my grandad's apartment is in Louisiana, and I don't even have a plane reservation.

emm said:

One thing I'll probably inherit is a valuable coin collection that belonged to my great-grandmother. I would look forward to exploring these very old coins and learning about their history.

Some photos and a journal would be nice too. Besides the logistical part, I imagine it will take plenty of emotional energy as well.

heartbeatocean said:

oh man that sounds VERY stressful!

could it all fit into one of these things?
[img]http://portableondemandstorage.com.au/images/aus_pods_callout.jpg
[/img]
until the will is finalised?

ZombieKitten said:

i had to do this with my mom's belongings a couple of years ago.

i think my situation was similar to yours in that my mom didn't have a huge amount of stuff, and a lot of what she owned got damaged in an outside shed, so there was a lot that just had to be pitched.

what i can advise from my experience:

1. don't go into it alone. have people with you. other people can help you make decisions about what to keep and what to throw away. plus, he may have collections that someone might want to go through while you're off going through other things. let people help you make decisions about what to keep, what to pitch, what to give away, etc.

2. contact your grandfather's friends, because they may be able to help you with some of it. a man my mom worked with knew of a needy family that could use some furniture, and because i knew my mom liked this guy a lot and because i didn't know what else to do with the stuff, i let him haul it off. my mom's good friends helped me go through all her clothes and figure out what went to charity, what should be kept (she had some antique pieces from when she was a costumer), and what they could use. they spent an evening in my mom's house, sitting in the living room drinking wine and talking about my mom while they sorted through the clothes. it was really sweet, and i think an important night for them.

3. rent a dumpster. no matter how few possessions you think your grandfather had, and no matter how valuable you think most of it may be, there's going to be a lot of STUFF that just needs thrown out. it will be inevitable.

i'm still trying to figure out what to do with some of the stuff i kept of my mom's. some of it, like her music memorabilia, i will never get rid of. some of it, like her jewelry, i want to part with someday, but i don't just want to get rid of it any old way. some of her stuff i could tell she hardly looked at or used, and it was easy to get rid of that stuff.

once you get his belongings to a manageable pile, it'll be easier to make decisions. but it might take years for you to figure out what to do with everything.

Hang in there, lady.

Wow, that's not an easy job.

Sorry for your loss.

Anxiety said:

Thanks, it's helping just to hear other people's stories. The whole experience feels very mysterious as my granddad was a recluse, estranged from the family, and no one knew much about his life. I'm learning that he was a part of a very close-knit Mormon community. They have offered to help out in so many ways. They will take any donations and are holding the Memorial Service until I get there.

ZombieKitten said:

All I know is I have to make a lot of phone calls tomorrow morning and will be calling into work late.

my parents' basement is absolutely jammed full of total GARBAGE and since they're getting on in years...I know I'm gonna be the guy to do this nasty job someday. I'd love for Dad to be man enough to clean up after himself a bit but I'm not going to make bad feelings about it.

heartbeatocean said:

Well, in a bittersweet kind of way, you're learning a lot about your grandfather that it sounds like he kept hidden or private throughout his life. I don't want to call it a silver lining, but maybe it'll be something that will bring you a lot of insight about him and your family. Meanwhile, it's really nice that his church community is being so helpful.

Anxiety said:

Yes. Someone else also told me that I would get closer him through the experience.

Wow Heartness

Sorry for your loss. I hope that you can manage the logistics of all of this. And I hope that you get help in dealing with the enormity of it.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

It's becoming a bit of a nightmare. Looks like I have to pay my grandfather's June rent. But my mom is flying out to help me and I expect there will be grace.

heartbeatocean said:

I can't imagine doing this locally let alone cross damn country! I didn't want to foist any mania on you but damn, it sounds very very crazy. See if you can get some senior discount on that rent!

I hope you navigate your way through this safely

Sorry to hear this task was left up to you, both my parents passed away 12 years ago. My sisters and I took a month going through all of their stuff, it has heart breaking. We would go through a closet and break down after every memory. Not a good time in my life, good luck.