I only have sad stories. I never knew how petty some of my relatives could be until I saw them fighting over the most valueless items imaginable.

Fun, that's why I can look back now and only laugh. I have to draw on my sense of humor because I like to observe people...as long as I'm not in charge. lol.

Not funny, but it did mean a lot to me. Dad was a big gadget guy, so he had everything under the sun that was electronic. He'd inherited his fathers tools, plus he'd had a mechanics shop as well as his own tools=so virtually 3 or more of every type of tool imaginable.

When he died, mom had a huge garage sale and got rid of all the stuff-we just took a few things (mostly tools). That year at Christmas mom gave each of us kids a gift-my brother got Dad's sheriffs reserve badge, my sister got a jar filled with old quarters, and I got a ceramic monkey. To each of us, those gifts were more precious than gold. When my brother was little he played with Dad's badge, my sister used to help him count out his change, and that stupid monkey-well when I was 12 I bought that for him while I was on a trip. My dad had kept that monkey on every desk he ever had-for 27 years that monkey had moved with my dad. Today it's on my desk at work. So in a way, it's kind of funny-of all the things I could have gotten when Dad died-I got a monkey.

Love your story pesky! Your mom (or dad) put thought into the things that had meaning!

When my brother died at age 46 a friend and I were looking through his home office for his will and came across a ziplock bag of our father's ashes filed under Dad's name. True story. That's when we took a cocktail break.

Oh my goodness, Kswl, that is funny, sad and odd all at the same time.

Before my Dad died he gave me his wooden suitcase with his initials on it that he brought from Scotland when he came at age 19 and he gave me his bagpipes. I'm one of seven so I felt odd that he gave them to me even though I spent the most time with him. After he died, I called my only brother a few weeks later who is a business mogul and lacks for nothing. I asked him if he wanted Dad's suitcase and he went bonkers, asked when he could get it. I said anytime. He was at the door in an hour lol. He keeps it in a place of honor. Then I asked my sister in Tn. if she would like the bagpipes as she didn't get to see him often due to the distance, she broke down. They hang on the wall in her living room. I have so many memories, it was easy for me to give them away.

Yaya, you're a good sister. :)

Pesky, your dad knew his children well.

KSWL, oh dear! Were you in shock or did you break down laughing? I probably would have said, "Oh my God about a thousand times!" lol.

We'll deal with this when my dad is gone. Since mom is gone, we will be his heirs. By we, I mean my brother, sister and I. Of course in their original wills, mom's estate went to dad and his to her. Same with my grandparents but now the grandchildren stand to inherit their sizeable estate. I don't anticipate problems. Both have wills, both have made it clear ahead of time - what goes to who. There are two other grandchildren who will inherit from my grandparents estate. My grandmother has already given us many things that she wanted to go to certain ones. I'm extremely thankful they did wills and made their wishes known!!!

My story isn't about inheritance, per se, but I'll submit it, anyway. My grandmother died in 1989 and I went with my mom back to Ohio. On the plane my mom was teary, and reflective. I was wondering how she was going to get through the whole thing. We landed in Dayton and made our way to the rental car lot. And there it sat. A bright, electric blue metallic somethingorother. I checked the key, and the paperwork, and that was our car. It was so over-the-top that it made both of us laugh. We couldn't work out if it was an appropriate car for the festivities. I dubbed the color "funeral blue" and we went on our way. But it did it's job -- it lightened the mood.

LOL, Jakabedy! That reminds me of a story when my dad died. I nearly freaked out my kids!

He had a beautiful graveside service, and as we were pulling into the cemetary this blue "station wagon" was in front of us. I was so full of grief I really didn't pay attention. But as we kept following it, I realized it was the hearse. I cried out, "It's dad! It's dad!" My boy's eyes got SO big. lol

I helped an elderly relative for years and when she finally died, I had to clear out the house to sell. Well, I discovered a bomb shelter in the basement! It was filled with survival supplies from the 1950's or 60's, as well as many other items. The best was a bottle of 1960's (I forget which vintage) Dom Perignon champagne. She was a tee-totaler, so not sure what she was had planned in the case of nuclear attack! It was a tiny bit oxidized and a bit flat, but still drinkable in 2009. A perfect wine cellar.

The oddest was maybe 200 packages (of 3 or 4 bars) of Ivory Soap. Maybe to wash off the nuclear fallout? And there were many, many boxes of salt. Iodine? She was in no way a hoarder, so she must have had specific plans for it all. I have no idea.

Not an inheritance story per se, but when we took dad's will to the lawyer, he said it was the oldest will he had ever probated. Dad died in 2006. He had the will drawn up in the 1950s. He never bothered to update it. My 90 year old uncle was named as executor (he declined) as well as guardian of the three children-we were all in our fifties by that time!

When my sister was in final stages of ovarian cancer I flew back and forth to AZ several times to be with her. On one of the trips she asked me to sell an antique breakfront piece because her sons had no interest in it and would be clueless where to sell it. I was emptying the contents, cleaning everything piece by piece, came across her collection of sugar bowls and was about dump what I thought had to be the oldest grossest sugar in each one when her youngest son yelled at me to stop! Each sugar bowl had the ashes of one of her cats - I stopped counting after 7. Sadly, the ashes and sugar bowls (and what little else she had) were ultimately abandoned by her sons. But I still have the purse she crocheted for me before she died.

I can't top any of these stories, especially the ashes in the file cabinet! My mom inherited her great aunts house and all the contents. My mom's cousins came for the funeral and as I was going up the stairs at the house, there they were coming down with their arms loaded with all my great aunt's good clothes, including all her furs. they were just sorta, kinda gonna stick them in a suitcase and hope nobody noticed. They acted kind of sheepish about it, but kept on moving. I mentioned it to my mom, but she just rolled her eyes and let it be. She didn't want the stuff anyway, but it sure would have been nice to ask. I wonder what else disappeared.

I always wished my dad's second wife (who was younger than me) had offered me some personal item of his after he died. Nothing of value, but just a memento. I have nothing of his.

What a variety of memories here.... Funeral blue, l love that!

Yes, friend and I were flabbergasted, shocked, amazed--- take your pick from the thesaurus under "astounded." The backstory is even weirder. My father had a massive stroke at age 60 and never walked or spoke again. He lived nine years longer, seven at home with a live in male nurse and the last two in a nursing home. He always wanted his body to go to Emory medical school, where our family has many ties, as a cadaver in the anatomy lab. When making the arrangements after his death, the school told us they would cremate the body after they were finished with it for educational use and send the ashes back. I was the only one who actually wanted them so it was agreed they would come to me.

But a year later the were FedExed to my brother by mistake. Said brother called me to let me know he was forwarding them, but had decided that he wanted to keep a portion of the ashes himself. For some reason that struck me as the oddest thing...to say there had been lifelong sibling rivalry between us would be a gross understatement, and I felt at the time that he was just making sure I did not get something that he didn't also have. And a year later he was also dead, very suddenly and unexpectedly, of a heart attack. And that's when I found the filed ashes in the ziplock bag. Too bad I didn't find them before I delivered the eulogy at his funeral.... talk about an ice breaker.

We finally settled on a columbarium in a beautiful mountain garden for both my father's and brother's ashes. But none of the rest of the fam knows I still have my share!

My Dad claimed he wanted 6 urns so we could all take some home. He also wanted us to bring our urns anytime we got together so he could be there. His ashes are buried, in one urn, in a Veterans cementary.

He always said he didn't want many details in his obit and when the funeral director asked we were to reply "it's none of your damn business". The FD did ask something basic, one of us replied as instructed, and then we all had a good laugh, much to the poor FD's visible dismay. His obit probably did have more details than he would have wanted. (OTOH, my Mum has written her own and it will be expensive since no detail is too small. We have to pay by the word for our newspaper obits.)

There was nothing of any value to inherit and we all wanted different things as small mementos so it wasn't a problem disposing of his things. We did find a copy of a hysterical letter he wrote and we all saved a copy. When we do get together we don't have his ashes but we do read the letter for a good laugh.

Four of the sisters bought new sandals that funeral weekend at a store near his house (he lived in Florida where sandals were readily available in February). We refer to those shoes as our mourning shoes.

My mom has my dad's ashes in a really nice wooden container; they normally sit over the fireplace. Whenever she goes away for any length of time she takes them to his sister's house.... which is the same house my dad grew up in. When Mom gets there with the ashes, my aunt (dad's sister) gives 'him' a kiss and always says something like 'welcome home A****, and I don't want any foolishness out of you this week... you're just going to sit in the living room and behave yourself' (dad was quite a prankster in his day).

Mom says she is scared that if someone broke in while she was away they might steal the container the ashes are in, not realizing what it is. One of the last things we have to do before leaving for vacation is drive dad to his sister's.

OK, kswl, I've GOT to ask --- are they in your file cabinet? :oD

Lol, folkvictorian.... Dad is in my library. I have enough trouble filing paperwork, much less remains. Gosh, it all sounds so gruesome, we're not quite the Addams Family we sound. At least, I don't think so :-)

Not an inheritance story but all the ashes being divided stories makes me tell this one.

Went to a funeral recently. No body, or little container for ashes anywhere to be seen. We paid our respects, went thru the "buffet of memories" and left. One thing on the "buffet" were a bunch of Harley banks, maybe trophies? The Harley was parked there. I'm thinking the deceased must have shown the bike. The banks were taped over the coin slot (I'm thinking so nobody sticks any coins or money in them to help with the funeral expenses).

Nope.

The ashes were in the banks and scotch tape was keeping them in.

AND

I heard the banks were given out to various people (not just family). Wow, am I glad we didn't stay for the service.

Good heavens, beekeeper.....that sets a new bar for party favors!

I have 2 stories one funny one perfect timing.

First when my hubby's grandma died I thought I would honor her by getting one of her paintings framed and put the obit on the back. The day I went to pick it up I stopped at the post office and there was a registered letter with an inheritance cheque. We had no idea that there was anything to inherit.

Second when my hubby's mother passed away we had her cremated but nobody wanted to keep the ashes so we thought we would take them to one of those garden places. You know the kind entrance fee and perfectly manicured. We were trying to do it under the radar so we walked along a beautiful trail and found a bridge over a stream no body was around it was perfect. So my SIL proceeded to pour the ashes into the stream.......But the ashes made the water very milky and noticeable so she hurried that is when the bag with the ID tag fell out of the box and started to float away. Fear struck us all now we could get caught because they could ID us. We laughed like mad and got out of there panicked giggles got the best of us. We never did get a call about our indiscretion.