Have you ever had to clear out a relative's home?

[Spinneret]

Yes my uncle's after he died.

 

[hmsTigger]

Yes In laws and grandparents

 

[CarolynFH]

Yes, my parents’ house, although I’ll admit my sister did most of the work because she lived nearby while I’m 350 miles away.

 

[TippyThomas]

Yes, my parents home.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Helped with my mother-in-laws. My own mother sold her house shortly before she died, and she left everything in it, so I never had the opportunity, nor did I get anything-long story. However, because of our experiences and the fact that DH and I are in our 70s, we're are doing some major decluttering now and giving lots of things to our kids now.

 

[NannyBeBe]

Yes, my mother's home and my mother-in-law's home. A lot of their stuff is still in my garage.

 

[amcnj]

So far just one, my grandmother-in-law’s house.

 

[tikisunset77]

Yes, my mom's house. We had a group of people (my family, my sisters' families) working together and we weren't just getting rid of stuff. We were deciding who gets what. Traumatic and definitely caused some rifts and little skwabbles.The only things we didn't keep were large furniture pieces that none of us could take or get back home. My mom had listed some things to certain people but the majority she left up to us- which was exhausting and emotionally draining- took three days I would say. Not fun when you are also grieving your best friend.

 

[barkley]

yeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssss. it was a small space but we realized 2 things when we had to deal with it-

the person when they sold their larger home had gotten rid of furniture but every drawer had been emptied (no sorting) into the furniture drawers they kept so it was tedious/time consuming, and

one person's 'important papers' are not another's (the 'important papers' file that we were repeatedly pointed to over the final couple of years contained oil change receipts on a long gone vehicles, years of old veterinarian bills on long passed pets, receipts for long passed family member's funerals and other assorted 'should have been tossed years ago' papers). bank/insurance/pension information? not on their radar as important.

 

[HannaBelle]

Yes, my in-laws downsized 3X before my mother-in-law passed away, then my father-in-law moved in with his youngest daughter. The final boxes of his worldly possessions are in our garage.

My parents are still living, and we are in the process of organizing their estate. It is absolutely breaking my heart, but I know my future self will be appreciative to have a detailed plan.

 

[Boopuff]

Yes, both sets of parents. Lots of sibling fighting with my DH family (5 siblings) who got what, etc. Oldest brother made off with a lot of stuff... ) I have one sibling, we both went through my parents stuff. Our parents had a detailed will. Unfortunatly, my mother left me china and silverware (no value today at all) my sibling go the car. (sold it for $$$$) but that's the way it goes. Note to self, clear out stuff before I get too old...

 

[lynxstch]

Yes, my grandmother's house.

 

[pwdebbie]

My in-laws' home in 2012, and my parents' home in 2025. Do you have questions?

 

[tvguy]

Yes. My MIL's house and my mother's house.

MIL passed unexpectedly at age 64. A few surprises in cleaning out the house. Why does a woman living alone need 20 sets of sheets for her bed? Found a locked strong box, never found a key. Broke it open and found it held the warranties for every electronic item she had ever bought. Her husband had passed a few years earlier, and we THOUGHT she had sold off his gun collection, but found a few, some in pieces. She sold her car after he passed, but never put the car she kept, his, in her name. Had the house cleaned out and sold 3 months after she passed, car sold. .

My mom passed at age 90 after being ill for a year and living in a care facility. She saw what we went through cleaning out my MILs house 14 years earlier, so did several purges of unused items. And she had made sure EVERY aspect of settling her estate was in order. Still work, but no surprises. Well, other than the items she felt were valuable were not, and items we thought were not valuable, were.

 

[HollowxBastion]

At 16 (circa fall 2011), i helped clear out part of my great-grandmothers house while she went off to live the next year in a residence before passing away at 92. I always tell my mom i miss her on the daily, she was such a gem.

And 3 years ago, cleared out my grandmothers house (and dad's only childhood home) with my dad. We rented a container cause amount of stuff we found and threw out at her house was insane, mostly cause she didn't need as much anymore since was downsizing. We basically kept a handful of essential stuff for her new condo. There was a 9th generation Mitsubishi Lancer in blue+white in the driveway (my grandmother never drove but let the neighbors son park there in her final years) and that almost became a car of mine but sadly it was a wash cause the Lancer was leaking transmission fluid

other than that, I've helped relatives move out and helped my girlfriend's bestie's mom move out after a divorce.

 

[13littledogs]

Yes, my mom's home. So much stuff. My husband and I try to purge our own home now at least twice a year because of this. Really don't want to leave that for someone else.

 

[bettertheangel]

My boyfriend's grandma passed in October and I helped a little bit with clearing out her apartment at the assisted living facility she was in.

 

[SleepyDeb]

Yes, my father's house in 2019 (small 5 rm house - took 4 days with DH, and me with Aunt helping a bit) and my MIL's house right now. MIL was a hoarder. It's been 6 months so far and 4 people working on it. It's maybe 75% done.

 

[barkley]

My parents are still living, and we are in the process of organizing their estate. It is absolutely breaking my heart, but I know my future self will be appreciative to have a detailed plan.

it is the best gift you will ever give yourself, just as doing it on your own behalf is the best gift you can gift to whomever has to deal with your own estate.

Why does a woman living alone need 20 sets of sheets for her bed?

because they were on SALE or they came as part of sets with comforters/bedspreads long gone or they were gifts (a neighbor went to clear his mom's home when she passed and found a couple of dozen new appliances still in the boxes-the kids/grandkids gifted them over the years thinking she needed the newest but she didn't believe in getting rid of something until it broke beyond use).

Her husband had passed a few years earlier, and we THOUGHT she had sold off his gun collection, but found a few,

She sold her car after he passed, but never put the car she kept, his, in her name

2 categories of items where it is VITAL to find out the laws in the state of residence regarding what happens when the legal owner dies. gun laws vary so much state to state and you want to find out how to transfer ownership b/c if you do it wrong it can be a major violation of the law. on cars-if your state allows for a transfer on death then you will save a major headache setting your vehicles up that way. we dealt with a car (no t.o.d. done) in a state that (even with no probate) required a 45 day wait to transfer title BUT it had to stay insured during that time BUT dead people can't have car insurance and you can't get insurance on a car you don't have ownership of yeah, fun. we ended up 'forgetting' to notify the auto insurance company of the owner's death until the 50th day by which time it had been transferred and then sold to a dealership.

 

[AnnaS]

Yes - parents and in-laws