I would leave the carpet alone. I would paint the dining room walls though. There is a way to have the paint matched if you wanted to get some touch up paint. Other than that, just clean it up, get rid of any big, bulky furniture, steam the carpets if needed, and make all the fixtures shine. I've seen those see-through fireplaces. They are cool looking, but I don't think I'd get one. I would look into what can be done about seeing into the MBR. I don't think you should do something permanent though. You never know what the buyer's might like. May be one of those folding doors. You can use it to block but you can still move it. I don't know if it would work though.

Make sure you get the insurance changed into a vacant house policy if the house will be vacant. If people won't love the house on looks, sell it on price. Also, be sure to factor in the cost of keeping the house another year- taxes and insurance for DH's grandfather's house were $3000 per year- if we waited five years to sell, it's a crapshoot on whether prices will recover, and it's unlikely the price will increase $15,000 in that time.

I'm so sorry you're going through all this. When my husband died 11 years ago, I quickly discovered (in about 2 hrs the morning after his death, late the night before!), that very little can be done without a death certificate. I also realized that the funeral home with whom we were dealing, were idiots. So, I got the correct forms from them, called the doctor's offices and asked if I could bring the forms in right away and he could sign them while I waited, and then drove 1 hr away to the State Capitol where the office that issues the certificates, is located. I had called ahead to be sure they could do the work while I waited. Yes, they could. Got there about 30 minutes before they closed and when they realized he had died the night before, they were very sympathetic and quickly issued the certificate. I got 12 copies and only have 2 left - I'm STILL being asked for this 11 years later. When you get it, read it VERY carefully. When my father died, they had him listed as "female". It took us 3 months, multiple phone calls and innumerable documents to prove to the State of Missouri, that my father was actually male.

Individuals' social security numbers are used for ID and processing for income tax purposes. An EIN serves as the equivalent of an SSN for federal tax purposes for "entities" - partnerships, corporations, estates, trusts, etc. etc. The page morz8 linked concerns small businesses only and when one needs an EIN - the answer is Yes if it a proprietorship that has employees or in all cases if it is an entity separate from the owner for income tax purposes. It's a federal thing, they're issued by the IRS. Some states use an entity's EIN for ID purposes, others have their own numbers for entity and/or payroll tax purposes. In the case of decedents, when financial assets (like bank accounts) change ownership from the individual to an estate or trust (which are entities distinct and separate from the individual), when new accounts are opened, when Estate Tax returns are filed, etc, etc. an EIN is required. The individual is gone and unless and until asset ownership is passed to an heir, the assets are owned by an estate or trust, they file income tax returns, and a number is needed.