personal possesions where there is no will

[ayrforce1]

My father died recently and did not leave a will. As the eldest son I have been asked by the family to deal with his estate. There is nothing of any great value and probably enough to pay his bills and funeral, with a little left over. Problem is that family members have removed items from his home claiming that they were promised them or that they had bought them or given them to my father. These items also include items of jewellery which belonged to my late mother, which my brothers and sisters claim they were promised but never received when she died.
As I wish nothing from the estate can I do anything to put a halt to their greed.

[dzug]

You could refuse to deal with the estate on the grounds of interference by the other family members.

[Squitty]

ayrforce - I can totally sympathise with you - my family were like vultures and most of them hadnt seen my father for more than 5 years through family arguments. All over items of little value. It was a few years ago but I haven't forgotten this disgrace.

[bednobs]

i don't really understand what the problem is - you want nothing from the estate, and you estimte there will be enough in whats left to pay debts and funeral. the siblings DO want some stuff (personal/sentimental value?) so whats the harm in them having it? If they didn't have it, it would only get sold for a paltry sum, and no-one would benefit from it. So what if you see it as greed? if it upsets you that much and you don't want to deal with it, just dont. Let someone else apply for letters of adminstraton, just because you are the oldest dosen't mean you have to do it.
However, if you do want to carry on, the nly way to proceed is to get the locks changed on wherever it is they are taking the stuff from

[ayrforce1]

If you`ve ever been in this situation you would realise what the problem is. Something may have sentimental value to others and if one is seen to be getting more than the rest then who has to listen to the bickering? When I say nothing of any great value we may be talking the odd ring at a few hundred pounds but more likely to be family heirlooms that are the problem. I have no problem with them having it but equally.

[oldmaggie]

You could do a sort of raffle. Write each article on piece of paper fold it and put it in a hat then let family take turns in picking a piece of folded paper. If they get something they don't want maybe they could negotiate with each other to swap. Make sure you have enough articles to allow them to have the same amount each. Your job done fairly?