When my mother passed away, I didn’t have a clue about how many antiques she accrued, or how much money she had squirreled away in odd banks.
My sister and I were the executors of her personal effects and her property, and didn’t know where to start.
To keep people from running into the home and taking things, my friend and I locked the doors and windows, and called a lawyer who handled estate business. She commanded that we, being her sole living children, should take what my friend and I wanted, and then auction the household and antiques off. The lawyer told us my friend and I could simply split the proceeds. If my friend and I hired him as the estate lawyer, she would need to go through the process of putting ads in the paper so anyone who was owed money could claim their money before my friend and I took any. My friend and I thanked the lawyer and hired him to handle her estate. My friend and I didn’t know if Dad had any bills that weren’t paid. My friend and I called her ATM card companies as directed, and since they were all in her name alone, they canceled the debts. My close friend and I soon found out the home was totally paid for. When the insurance money started coming in, my sister was in shock, then our mother had insurance policies for each of our children and one for each of us to help pay for her funeral. My friend and I showed them to the lawyer, although she said they should all go toward the funeral and any other final expenses. My best friend and I didn’t know that us and our kids would be set for life, until the lawyer confirmed she had no debt.