What household items the family doesn't want could be given to Goodwill or Hospice for their sales.

Perhaps a local community college or high school could use the woodworking equipment?

Most libraries have a Friends of the Library support group that hold annual or ongoing book sales.

Perhaps a local museum or art gallery would be interested in his photographs?

I think it is good of you to pitch in and help. My sympathy on the loss of your uncle.

Teresa

Bri, laws will vary from state to state, so if your uncle had any will at all, everything must be taken care of by the executor, right down to the books and photos. If he died intestate, or without a will at all, that's something else.

If you believe that things like woodworking tools are worth anything, you can always hire an auctioneer to have an estate sale. That's what I did with Dad's stuff, all the proceeds went to stepmom and I pretty much ticked everyone else off equally. Sigh.

I'm sorry to hear about your uncle. It's difficult to think of everything that needs to be done while the family is in an emotional uproar, I know.

Annie

Sorry to hear your sad news, Bri. Even "expected" deaths are hard.
As to the estate, first you need to make _sure_ there is no will. (Note to everyone else, do YOU have a will? You never know when it's going to happen, but it's a 100% certainty you will die at some point, so you might as well.) If there is no will, as Annie says, your state will have laws about how the estate should be distributed. You need to consult a law clinic or some other source which can help you with this. They may well also have a Public Trustee who will take over the distribution of the estate and it won't be your problem any more.
If you end up being the executor, much depends on how well family members get along. In an ideal world everyone would agree on who gets what, but we all know it's not an ideal world. Perhaps you could get everyone to give you a wish list and go from there, if more than one person wants the same thing have a discussion and/or draw a name out of a hat if you can't get a concensus. Unwanted stuff sell and split the proceeds among everyone. That's my best suggestion.

So sorry for your families loss Bri.

As others have mentioned the will, assuming there is one must be honoured but often all the acquired "stuff" is not detailed.

If the will states something like "and everything else to my brother XXXX" then he gets all the stuff not detailed.

If something like that is not in a will, and the family all agree you can have a "round robin" for all who are interested. It works really well.

Here is an example, if you have 10 people interested place the numbers 1 - 10 in a hat and everyone pulls a number. Going in numerical order each person chooses something they want. If there is more than 10 things draw numbers again and choose again....and so on. Usually what's left is of not much vales and can simply be donated.

Thank you for all your help. I'd not really thought of the legalities of the will and had just been looking at it from a logistics/family issues point of view. I guess it's the implicit trust that if my dad is asking me to do something, the legalities have been addressed (even in the round-about, not really wanting to impose, not outright asking way he approached this). I know it's naive, but I'm not at my "clearest-thinking" right now.

I'm fairly certain my other uncle that lives nearby my deceased uncle is named executor (if he even had a will). I'll talk to him and figure out what's going on. The reason for selling as much as possible after the family decides what to keep is that he had amassed some rather large debts in trying to deal with his illness. I know my dad and his siblings will just pay everything off, but I'd like for them to not have to take on all the burden.

Maybe I sound calloused in talking about selling my uncle's stuff days after his death. If so, I apologize to any who are offended. I'm just muddling through as best I know how. I've never done this before. Thanks again.

Bri

Chances are that if YOUR thinking isn't at it's clearest right now (and understandably so), your father's isn't either. So do check around the family for any evidence of a will.
In any case, I suspect you'll find that before the residue of an estate can be distributed, any debts incurred by the late person have to be paid out, so it may well be that property is sold to satisfy any outstanding debts before the reaminder is shared out. So, your father and uncles should not have to pay off your late uncle's debts. If, however it should fall out that some item of the estate which has to be sold to settle the debts, is something they want to keep, they'll have to buy it back from the estate.

I have no ideas for you but just wanted to say I'm sorry for your loss. *hugs*

Bri, I am so sorry for the loss of your uncle and the stress itÂs putting on your father and his siblings. It so hard to deal with all the "things" at a time like this. My best advice would be to find out who the executor is. Legally that person is the only person who can decide what will happen to all the household items. If no will is found the state may appoint an executor depending on the size of the estate and the laws of that state.

Try not to worry about hurt feeling or squabbles among family members just know that they will probably happen. Some will get the "I wants" and some will keep quiet and explode later to other family members. Try to keep it all in prospective. My own family fell apart over things that in reality shouldnÂt have mattered at all after my mother passed away.

Just recently I finally got my father to go through boxes of old pictures and albums with family history going back several hundred years. He doesnÂt really care about them but now he realizes what a mess itÂs going to be for me when he dies and I have to decide who will get them.I think we will have them duplicated but at some point like Annie said I may just tick everyone off and get it over with.

Money and property are always easy itÂs the little things that always becomes the issue and causes the biggest emotional problem when settling an estate. My best to you and your family. Just take care of your father make him your priority.

Claudia

Your father and his siblings are not responsible for your uncle's debts. His estate is, and if there's a will, it will have to go through probate, as well.

Rather than distress yourself from a distance, you might ask your father or other uncle if there's any research you can do about the value of things. The woodworking tools could be valuable.

I inherited my father's entire estate, as he did his mother's. Tons of stuff. Way too much to handle. I stored most of it until I was able to deal with sorting, selling, keeping and donating. It's very stressful.

Bri,
Once you've determined if there's a will, research the laws in the state where your uncle resided. They will be very specific as to how things are done if there isn't a will (My dad died owning a business, 1/4 million dollar house, and no will...).
There should be estate sales people in town that will come and appraise much of the "stuff". My mom had someone do that at my grandparents house. They determined what had real value, were antiques, etc. and what was just appropriate for a garage sale. For a fee/percentage, they run the sale if you want them to, including all display/marking of prices, etc.
Sometimes it's less emotional to just let them do it.

I'm sorry you're dealing with this, especially from a distance.
Call/email if ya wanna talk.
Deanna

Ok, I've done a bit of research and made some calls... I think we've cleared most of the legal hurdles (except the bills, of course!). My uncle didn't have a will, was single, had no children, lived in a rented apartment and both of his parents are dead. According to what I've found, in California this means that his property goes to his siblings. I'm not sure what will happen with the credit card debts etc, but I think most of his medical expenses were taken care of with disability and medicare so it's more manageable. I'm going to stay out of that part of this mess and just help the family manage sharing/ donating/ selling all the stuff once the legalities are settled.

Thank you all for your support and help. I wasn't sure who to talk to about this and I am so grateful to you all for being so helpful.

Bri

Bri, I have to rush off, but I just want to say how sorry I am for your loss. I'll keep you, your father and the rest of your family in my prayers. Oh, and we (me and 2 siblings) did that round robin thing when my mother passed away. It worked well for us.

Sally

I think you'll find that it's the _residue_ of the property (basically, what's left over) that goes to the siblings after all outstanding debts (including the credit cards) have been settled.