My MIL died last month at 81. I feel like I should be sadder but instead I'm just frustrated and mad at her sometimes. Her will was dated 1984 and not notorized so it makes a big old mess for my husband and his brother to get to her money to pay for her burial and ambulance bills which we had to put on our credit card.
She was a hoarder and left behind a 16 x 80 mobile home filled to the gills. Cleaned out her fridge and there were expensive blocks of cheese long expired. Three or four five-pound bags of shredded cheese. Five 3 pound packs of bacon...expired of course.
Food piled behind the table years past the expiration some of it actually evaporated in the can. Old cereal and crackers that had bugs and smelled rancid. Five or 6 two pound bags of walnuts from Sams that cost 12 to 14 dollars a bag. Same with pecans. I emptied all bags and boxes out into the bucket of the tractor and dumped over the creek bank for the wild animals to eat. Thousands of dollars worth of food. She would go to the store and load up her cart and get mad if you tried to tell her she didn't need something.
She was constantly buying shoes but only ever wore one pair all the time. Same with clothes. She ran out of closet room and hung them on the shower head till it broke. There is piles of clothes almost to the ceiling
She had drawers stuffed full of jewelry, but it was all cheap, she'd never worn or took out of the package. If she'd taken the money she wasted on that she could have bought a few good pieces.
There's always some loose ends when someone passes, but it will take months and months of hard work to sort through all the stuff. Going to have to leave the heat on so the pipes don't freeze.
My advice, you don't owe your kids a thing, but they don't deserve a big mess either.
She was a hoarder and left behind a 16 x 80 mobile home filled to the gills. Cleaned out her fridge and there were expensive blocks of cheese long expired. Three or four five-pound bags of shredded cheese. Five 3 pound packs of bacon...expired of course.
Food piled behind the table years past the expiration some of it actually evaporated in the can. Old cereal and crackers that had bugs and smelled rancid. Five or 6 two pound bags of walnuts from Sams that cost 12 to 14 dollars a bag. Same with pecans. I emptied all bags and boxes out into the bucket of the tractor and dumped over the creek bank for the wild animals to eat. Thousands of dollars worth of food. She would go to the store and load up her cart and get mad if you tried to tell her she didn't need something.
She was constantly buying shoes but only ever wore one pair all the time. Same with clothes. She ran out of closet room and hung them on the shower head till it broke. There is piles of clothes almost to the ceiling
She had drawers stuffed full of jewelry, but it was all cheap, she'd never worn or took out of the package. If she'd taken the money she wasted on that she could have bought a few good pieces.
There's always some loose ends when someone passes, but it will take months and months of hard work to sort through all the stuff. Going to have to leave the heat on so the pipes don't freeze.
My advice, you don't owe your kids a thing, but they don't deserve a big mess either.
