# My newly dead uncle -- a prize in his Crackerjack house? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 6, 2008, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-newly-dead-uncle-a-prize-in-his-crackerjack-house/451981 "2008-06-06T04:49:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-newly-dead-uncle-a-prize-in-his-crackerjack-house/451981/61 "2008-06-10T18:27:04Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] …a bag of asian-chick video porn. [/QUOTE] **clears throat** Erm, if you aren’t going to need that… ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-newly-dead-uncle-a-prize-in-his-crackerjack-house/451981/62 "2009-06-30T23:18:16Z")
I just learned that E.L. Doctorow’s next novel will be about the notorious packrat Collyer Brothers: [An Excerpt From E.L. Doctorow's Next Novel](http://www.newsweek.com/id/203690) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-newly-dead-uncle-a-prize-in-his-crackerjack-house/451981/63 "2009-07-01T01:01:19Z")
I may as well post an update to this before it’s closed as a zombie thread. Through a series of intramural family squabbling, I was appointed administrator of unc’s estate. The very best news is that his lawsuit had been settled just 5 days before his death, and within his insurance company’s limits. So the estate was free and clear of it. Uncle owen ended up leaving an estate valued at approximately $170,000. Legal fees, oustanding bills, funeral expenses, etc. ate up about 10 grand. He left no will, no stocks or bonds or property other than a car, pretty much all cash money. It gets split 4 ways among his siblings, since he never married or had kids. My dad’s portion is split up among us 3 kids, so I end up with one twelfth, plus a couple grand administrator’s fee. Which I’m going to take in the form of his Rolex, which the estate has graciously repaired for me. Still, it only appraised at 15 hundred because it had no band, and the face has faded some due to exposure. Sso I end up with a bit less than 15 grand and an old but sill functioning Rolex Submariner. 🙂 We should be finally closing out the estate in just a few more weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-newly-dead-uncle-a-prize-in-his-crackerjack-house/451981/64 "2009-07-01T02:07:50Z")
This turned out better than it might have. It doesn’t seem like a year has passed by. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-newly-dead-uncle-a-prize-in-his-crackerjack-house/451981/65 "2009-07-01T02:43:46Z")
My most brilliant strategy was not answering the phone when caller ID showed it was one of the heirs. I told them at the start I would communicate by letter, and everyone would get exactly the same information at roughly the same time, and I didn’t want to have private conversations where something might be misspoken or misunderstood. It didn’t stop some of them from trying though. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-newly-dead-uncle-a-prize-in-his-crackerjack-house/451981/66 "2009-07-01T04:06:49Z")
So did you ever find any details about what the personal injury lawsuit was about? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-newly-dead-uncle-a-prize-in-his-crackerjack-house/451981/67 "2009-07-01T04:43:56Z")
Not a whole lot. He hit a pedestrian with his car. The injuries couldn’t have been too serious, it was settled for something less than 50 grand, which was all the insurance would cover. Honestly, I found the porn more interesting the the details of a settled suit. Once I found that there were no more financial issues, I never gave it any further thought. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-newly-dead-uncle-a-prize-in-his-crackerjack-house/451981/68 "2009-07-01T13:40:25Z")
Thanks for the update! Innit funny how the job you didn’t want is the job you got? Good call on communicating by letter for everything. Brilliant, actually. What happened to the pron? Someone had to ask! ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-newly-dead-uncle-a-prize-in-his-crackerjack-house/451981/69 "2009-07-01T14:00:30Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > My most brilliant strategy was not answering the phone when caller ID showed it was one of the heirs. I told them at the start I would communicate by letter, and everyone would get exactly the same information at roughly the same time, and I didn’t want to have private conversations where something might be misspoken or misunderstood. > > It didn’t stop some of them from trying though. Brilliant is an understatement. It is amazing during times like that the most innocuous statements can erupt. I am so glad it went well for you, I have to say, a lot of the reason for that is because of your strategy. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-newly-dead-uncle-a-prize-in-his-crackerjack-house/451981/70 "2009-07-01T17:07:10Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > He also left a big pile of Viagra pills and a bag of asian-chick video porn. > > Otherwise he left a remarkably empty and impersonal home. Not a single book. Not a single video, _other_ than the porn. Hardly any written correspondence, and most of that dealing with a lawsuit. Are you sure your uncle wasn’t a Doper - he sounds a lot like many people here! ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-newly-dead-uncle-a-prize-in-his-crackerjack-house/451981/71 "2009-07-01T17:56:37Z")
I love it when people provide updates to old threads like this–thanks Boyo Jim, and glad to hear everything worked out! ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-newly-dead-uncle-a-prize-in-his-crackerjack-house/451981/72 "2009-07-01T18:44:56Z")
Here’s an anecdote, while we’re on the subject: One of my old coworkers was named as executor of his aunt’s estate. She was single with no kids, and they had been very close. He knew that she had cash and things of value hidden in the house, so he took great pains to examine everything very closely. Good thing he did. One thing he found hidden away was a gold coin worth $10,000! His aunt had also hidden cash in her drawer liner paper. She had put the cash on top of the paper, cut out another piece of the paper to cover the cash, and matched the pattern so exactly that it was virtually impossible to see that there was anything there except in good light. And how often does good light hit the back of a dresser drawer? He did find the treasure hunt to be a whole lot of fun. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-newly-dead-uncle-a-prize-in-his-crackerjack-house/451981/73 "2009-07-01T18:56:08Z")
My mother died in October, and I was co-executor along with my step-father. Through a bank error, or my mother misunderstanding the process, she made me sole beneficiary of her IRA, but I knew she’d planned on distributing it to all of us children, so I’m doing that over 5 years to minimize the tax hit. The procedes from the sale of her house was divided amongst her grandchildren (I was very hurt my dogs were left out of the will! 😉 ). When it was all said and done, the lawyer handling things remarked on how great everyone was to deal with and how everyone behaved, and even sent letters to my siblings to that effect. He said it was amazing how some families will break apart because so and so wanted Mama’s kitchen table and didn’t get. StG ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-newly-dead-uncle-a-prize-in-his-crackerjack-house/451981/74 "2009-07-02T00:47:29Z")
that is truely impressive stgermain. i’m glad things went so well, boyo jim, very smart keeping everything in writing. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-newly-dead-uncle-a-prize-in-his-crackerjack-house/451981/75 "2009-07-02T02:41:41Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > …Good call on communicating by letter for everything. Brilliant, actually. > … My sister gets credit for that. She’s already handled two estates and prying heirs were the worst part. But I do recognize good advice when I get it, even when I don’t follow it. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-newly-dead-uncle-a-prize-in-his-crackerjack-house/451981/76 "2009-07-02T02:52:47Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > My mother died in October, and I was co-executor along with my step-father. Through a bank error, or my mother misunderstanding the process, she made me sole beneficiary of her IRA, but I knew she’d planned on distributing it to all of us children, so I’m doing that over 5 years to minimize the tax hit. The procedes from the sale of her house was divided amongst her grandchildren (I was very hurt my dogs were left out of the will! 😉 ). When it was all said and done, the lawyer handling things remarked on how great everyone was to deal with and how everyone behaved, and even sent letters to my siblings to that effect. He said it was amazing how some families will break apart because so and so wanted Mama’s kitchen table and didn’t get. > > StG We had a similar experience when my dad died. Two of us haven’t gotten along at all with our oldest sister for years, and I was kind of expecting trouble, But there wasn’t - she was remarkably well behaved, maybe because there was no particular thing she wanted other than a fair share. My dad didn’t leave a will, but he had put our names along with his on various accounts. (He was also one of those guys who squirreled money away on like a dozen different banks.) So even though technically we already “owned” differing amounts of his money, we all agreed to pool it together and split it into 3 equal shares. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-newly-dead-uncle-a-prize-in-his-crackerjack-house/451981.md?page=3)