27.2.13

30. Inherited belongings

Some time ago, Stella inherited some things from an aunt. This was one of those   complicated family situations that happen in families.

‘Most of this has been left to me, but I want to share it with the rest of the family.’

‘Okay, why don’t we first separate out what you want to keep?’ 

That was actually a fairly quick pass.  The next question was which things to go to who.

‘This requires the wisdom of Solomon.  People are going to compare what they received and I need to make an even division’

The situation is made more difficult because some of the family live abroad.  Stella had already contacted the shipping company and had instructions from them about what information they needed to set the prices.  We organised the different lots into piles which we would measure and photograph for the shipping company.  All the aunt’s things were in the dining room spread out on the table and the floor.

‘Let’s put the sorted piles in the sitting room so we can see what we are doing’

The sitting room had been clear for a while.  It was great to have a place where we could work. We started each pile on a large piece of packing paper with the recipient’s name on it. Some sensitive papers turned up which Stella needed to think about so we stopped for the day, returning the individual piles to the dining room with the labelled packing papers ready for the next session.

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