i'm writing today about the time period when both parents are gone and the last surviving parent's funeral is past. Now it's time to start dividing up their personal property. The money was easy---split evenly three ways between my two sisters and I.
But the property was another matter. We gathered all items that we thought had monetary value. Mom and Dad had 11 nicely framed pictures, some more costly than others. They had a lladro nativity set. They had a treadmill. Enough items that it would take us a while to sort through. A friend of mine made a good suggestion as to how we could proceed. Oldest daughter (me) was given #1, my middle child sister Deb was #2 and the youngest daughter, Barb, was assigned #3. As #1, I was given first choice out of all the items, then #2, Deb went second with choosing her item and Barb as #3 made her selection. For the second round, Deb as #2 would get first choice, Barb as #3 would get second choice and I as #1 would get last choice for that round. For the third round, Barb as #3 would get a first choice, I would get second choice and Deb would get last choice. We put sticky notes with our names on each chosen item, in case we'd forget who chose what. We continued that procedure until all items were spoken for. We felt that was a more fair way to do it as opposed to going from oldest to youngest for each round. The oldest would get first choice for each round.
The items of sentimental value were equally as hard, if not harder as deep emotions came into play. I'm talking about things such as the family Bible, pictures of grandparents and great-grandparents. We did those items the same way as the afore-mentioned procedure, but each of us came away with some regrets and "choosers remorse".
I would be interested in hearing how other families handle this aspect. Please share!
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