After funeral services are complete, you may receive your deceased family member's belongings. Deciding what to do with the items can be challenging in the midst of grief. Use the following guidance to make the process of sorting through an estate easier.

How to Deal With a Lost Loved One’s Belongings

1. Ask for Help

Going through a lost loved one’s belongings may be emotionally challenging. The volume of items may also be a lot for one person to handle.

Request the assistance of other family members to make the task more manageable. Everyone can help discard items and find new homes for sentimental belongings.

2. Assess the Home

First, walk through the home to assess how many rooms and how many items will need your attention. Gather supplies, such as storage bins, donation boxes, garbage bags, and packing materials.

Then, contact organizations to ask about donations and start planning an estate sale for whatever you decide to sell, including artwork and jewelry.

3. Categorize Items

Make lists and piles of what you want to keep, donate, sell, and discard. As you move through each room, assign items to categories based on condition. For example, damaged clothing and broken objects should be scrapped.

Ask family members if there are belongings they want to hold onto so you can keep them. Some people find it hard to contemplate throwing away a loved one's belongings. Others find disposing of these items to be a cathartic process. If you feel comfortable doing so, it may be most efficient to rent a dumpster for possessions that can't be donated.

4. Set Limits

Your first instinct may be to take as many possessions as possible, but that might not be realistic for your own space’s storage limits.

Set parameters about how much you will keep by designating specific bins to take home. Inspect every room before making final decisions on what to keep so you’re confident about which items have the most value to you.

5. Take Your Time

There’s no rush to go through the estate. Plan out which days you will visit the property and for how long, limiting yourself to a few hours each time.

Avoid spending entire days sorting through belongings, as this could be overwhelming when you are already dealing with emotions from the funeral service.

Arndt Funeral Home LLC provides compassionate funeral services for families in Rochester, NY. Since 1975, this family-owned funeral home has offered memorial, cremation, and burial options to help people find the right ways to honor their loved ones. Their staff is caring and compassionate, dedicated to helping community members deal with difficult times. Call (585) 225-6350 for support, or visit them online for more helpful resources.