What did you do with your parent/s stuff when they passed ?

[CarLuver]

My mother passed away from an aneurysm last week. She was 85 . She went quickly, and was surrounded by family when she passed . Now like many that have parents passing, we need to figure out what to do with all the stuff she accumulated in the 45 years she was in her home.

my first thought is to have relatives and friends come and pick what they wanted . Then after that is done , take what is left to goodwill and the like. whatever they won't take we take to the dump .

So how did you dispose of your parents belongings when they passed?

 

[charbaby]

Condolences to you and your family for the loss of your mother.
We did the same/similar thing as you. What we kept for ourselves, we passed on to our own children or sold.

 

[Burt]

Is there Restore location near you? They will generally pick up everything in the home at no charge, sell what they can and dispose of the rest. Profits go to Habitat for Humanity.

https://www.houstonhabitat.org/restore/

 

[Burt]

Is there Restore location near you? They will generally pick up everything in the home at no charge, sell what they can and dispose of the rest. Profits go to Habitat for Humanity.

 

[nomas]

If you have a house full of stuff to deal with , you might consider an Estate Sale . I briefly worked for a group of ladies that conduct Estate sales . Basically , you take whatever you want to keep and then get out of their way . They go in and clean everything out and I mean everything . They organize it , price it , conduct the sale , and take a percentage . Anything unsold is donated and they sweep and vacuum before they leave .

 

[dnewton3]

My mother passed away from an anuerism last week. She was 85 . She went quickly, and was surrounded by family when she passed . Now like many that have parents passing, we need to figure out what to do with all the stuff she accumulated in the 45 years she was in her home.

my first thought is to have reletives and freinds come and pick what they wanted . Then after that is done , take what is left to goodwill and the like. whatever they won't take we take to the dump .

So how did you dispose of your parents belongings when they passed?

I did exactly what you propose ...
- relatives, then friends get to pick thru stuff first
- then auction (Christys)
- then Good Will
- then dumpster

When it comes to selling her stuff, be prepared that a lot of it won't bring much money at all. Especially good quality "old" furniture. It's an IKEA world, and older style furniture simply isn't wanted by many, and so the value is way less than many folks think.

 

[earlyre]

or you could go the route of my brother in law.
he just boxed everything up, put it in a at the time spare bedroom in the house, and ignores it.
despite the fact that they need that room. currently both kiddos share a bedroom, but that will only work for so long (boy 3, girl 2)

 

[blain450]

My sister and I were the only beneficiaries when my mom passed in 2020.
We each took a couple of items, special to us (nothing expensive). We sold off some of her appliances and furniture to people we knew, and split the proceeds.
Everything that was left, we contracted with two sisters that ran an estate sale business. My mom ran a flea market booth for several years, so she had lots of odds & ends collectables. The sisters did all the work of categorizing, cleaning, photographing and online auctioning, collecting the money everything. The auction was online, but most all the buyers physically picked up their items when they met the sisters on a certain day at my mom's house. They charged 35% of the proceeds of the sale, which I thought I very reasonable considering all the work they put in on the job.

 

[blain450]

or you could go the route of my brother in law.
he just boxed everything up, put it in a at the time spare bedroom in the house, and ignores it.
despite the fact that they need that room. currently both kiddos share a bedroom, but that will only work for so long (boy 3, girl 2)

That's a tight fit and all to store some stuff?

 

[iahawk]

getting ready to move my elderly mother into a retirement community after 60 years in her big, 100 year old house. 4 floors of 'stuff'...with very little of it wanted by family members. Will be kind of sad to see old family furniture pieces sold off for pennies or go the dump. What I'm really not looking forward to is dealing with all the old pictures and stuff in drawers.

 

[Pablo]

Sorry to hear of your loss.

People have spoken, same for me pretty much

My parents were pretty wealthy but the stuff the kept was not worth much (tells you something I suppose)
We let the kids take what they wanted, no one wanted much.
The two daughter in-laws didn't want the jewelry, nor did my brother. So I took that. Didn't look like much but I weighed and calculated it when I got home. Melt value around $15K at the time, sold it to reputable gold scrap dealer for near $20K. (12K-24K, lots of 14K mainly, but at first glance didn't look like much, felt heavy to me)

My brother took the piano and Model T

The rest donated, then huge dumpster. Done.

 

[slo town]

Sorry for you loss, OP.

I've lost both my parents, and I'm an only child. Thankfully my parents weren't pack rats. It was easy to get rid of the big things, furniture and such. The hard part was the small stuff.

I found a couple hundred handwritten letters in the bottom drawer of my mother's dresser. All of them were deeply personal. Mom's handwriting was always so beautiful. Some went back to the 1950s. Both my parents we college graduates, both of them well educated and highly intelligent. Unfortunately, that seemed to cause conflict.

I still remember the afternoon I was in the garage, going through those letters, curious what they said, deciding which ones to keep. All were deeply personal and some were upsetting.

What did I do with them? I stopped reading them and dumped all of them in the recycle bin, every single one of them. Even though they were my parents, there were things I preferred not to know. My parents were good people, both of them, but they always had a simmering dislike for each other. There was no need for me or anyone else to know the details.

Scott

 

[wavinwayne]

..What did I do with them? I stopped reading them and dumped all of them in the recycle bin, every single one of them...

I think that was wise. Some things are best lest unknown to us.

OP, I am sorry for your loss.

 

[slo town]

I think that was wise. Some things are best lest unknown to us.

OP, I am sorry for your loss.

Appreciate it, but it's been years. Mom passed in 2010 and Dad in 2012. It's sad the things you end up missing, things like New Year's Day college football at my parents house. Mom would work all morning preparing appetizers and a truly gourmet meal. She loved to cook.

Besides Sue, our boys and me, 4 or 5 of their dearest friends would always be there too. It was a yearly tradition that went on for decades. Barb and Wes, Frank, Norm, etc. Norm and my father first met while serving together in the 8th Air Force during WWII. They became lifelong friends. Besides missing my parents, I'm surprised how much Sue and I miss their friends. Barbara with her regal grace and beauty, husband Wes and his animated and goofy humor, Frank and his serious and deep conversations, and Norm and his never ending, rambling stories that drove you crazy. They're all gone now and I miss them.

Scott

 

[Lubener]

Sorry for your loss..

What I did, whatever myself and two brothers had no use for, got hauled to the nearest VOA so someone could get use of the many items. Nothing which was still good and usable got thrown out.

 

[Astro14]

I’m very sorry for your loss.

The very first thing to do is ensure that you are completely compliant with whatever Will or trust, that she had. The executor needs to make sure that there aren’t specific items that have been earmarked for particular family members.

Don’t go giving anything away until you’re absolutely sure that you are compliant with her will.

 

[Chris142]

We had a huge yard sale when my dad passed. I sold boxes of vacuum tubes,tool sets ,cars etc.

We even had a box of flashlights we handed our for free.

 

[nomas]

For some reason , Estate sales bring higher prices than Garage sales . .

 

[dadto2]

I'm sorry for your loss, losing a parent is always difficult. My brother passed away last winter. My other brother and I cleaned out his house, and we spent the first few days stuck in place. We didn't know what to do with stuff. The two most helpful things were A) realizing that those were his memories, not ours, and B) getting another friend who has no emotional attachment to anything in the house to help sort... My friend was able to quickly sort items into "sell", "donate", and "trash" piles. This was, of course, after family members were allowed to pick through the items.

 

[zzyzzx]

Nobody wants your old stuff.