Bleach, a quilt and an ulcer

Many people hear about families fighting over items that they want after the death of a mother or father and the estate is being settled. An executor who is a customer of our home inventory service lives out of state and was traveling to Indianapolis every weekend for quite some time.

That in itself was wearing on him, let alone handling all of the issues that face an executor. When it was time to record everything in the home, he decided he wanted some help.


We had conversations over the few weeks following our completion of the task. One phone call started like this. "I'm about to 'accidentally' spill bleach on that quilt - it's giving me an ulcer. All this for $8!"

Seems his sisters were fighting over this item, continually calling him pleading their case. Tough call, but he didn't have the nerve to do what he wished he could. Goes to show how important it is to have an inventory and mark next to items who you'd like to receive them upon your death.

We've seen families torn apart for items of this small value many times. What value can you place on your executor's health - physical and emotional? What value can you place on your family and the turmoil an inventory can prevent?