Protecting Your History
The history of a family is passed from one generation to another in many ways. It can be passed through stories, pictures, furniture and many other items. When heirlooms make their way through generations, they can end up cluttering up your home, if you don’t really have a place for them. This can cause an issue and you need to understand a few ways you can clear these items from your home.
What to do with Family Heirlooms
Usually the first choice, if you don’t have a good place to display the item is to pack it away in a box, in the garage or in the basement. However, this can be a huge mistake because many storage areas within a home don’t provide the right storage for older items. You may find the time destroyed when you get ready to move or you clean out your home. It’s best to protect the item by using a company offering climate controlled storage spaces, especially when storing old furniture and clothing.
If someone in your family passes away and they live in a different state, it may be beneficial to use a local storage company. For example, if your grandmother passed in Fort Worth, but most of your family lives in Indiana, it will cost quite a bit to move her items to your state. Until you figure out exactly what to do with them, it will save you money to store them locally.
Another way to get the items out of your home would be to offer them up to other family members. If you simply don’t want the item anymore, but you want to keep it in the family, contact all your relatives and find out if anybody would like it. You may find that many family members share your desire to keep the item in the family and have the space to display it properly.
What if You Don’t Want the Item at all
If you simply don’t want the item and you just want to get rid of it, you can sell it or give it to charity. Contacting an auctioneer able to help you sell the items might help, but if you don’t want to deal with trying to sell them, you can donate everything to a local thrift store. Many families simply hold an estate sale and let a professional company run the sale for them. This helps clear out all the unwanted items quickly.
It’s never a fun situation to deal with the aftermath of losing a loved one, but it must be done. Dividing the property can be difficult and you don’t have to deal with it immediately. If you’ve been left in charge of the estate, you may want to put the most precious family items in storage and give them to family members over time. This allows enough time for those in the family specifically interested to come forward and let you know what they want.
Disclosure: Consideration was received for the publication of this post.
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