Names are changed or omitted in order to remain confidential. Thanks for your assistance and advice.
I was approached about an appraisal assignment about a week ago. The executor contacted me about doing some estate settlement work. Simple enough. He and his wife were appointed many years ago to this position. The estate owner, we'll call "Mr. Greene", was their close friend, and had moved into a nursing home about six years ago with the last two years battling alzheimer's. "Mr. Greene" died two weeks ago at age 82.
"Mr. Greene" was quite well known in the auction and antique world. He was a serious collector in the fields of books, art and silver but surrounded himself with the best of everything. He was famous for his library which numbered in the low thousands and for his art work in which it is a known fact that he paid in excess of half a million dollars for one example. Very high end personal property.
"Mr. Greene" was survived only by an estranged cousin. Both his mother and father were the last lines of very wealthy families. He never married and had no children. The bulk of his size able estate was slated to go to charity with many pieces of personal property being willed to friends and to various dioceses' and offices, of his chosen faith, to be used as they wished.
About a week ago the executors entered his former home. To their shock they discovered that the entire home was covered with a thick layer of mold. To the degree that it permeated into drawers and cupboards. It was remarked that his clothing in the closets were so mold covered that it was hard to determine what color they were. No one had entered the home for at least six years. It is not known if this was caused from a ruptured pipe, the lack of ventilation or some chemical backlash, o if it is powdery or wet mold. So what do I do now?
Obviously this estate will have to be settled. An estate that will pass by far the $500,000.00 limits. The insurance which continued to be paid was with a high end company. They will have to be contacted quickly. Can things be cleaned and/or restored enough to be given to those in which it was willed to? How will the restoration effect the objects and the wishes of "Mr. Greene?" A important but sentimental piece to a friend valued at $300.00 with a possible $900.00 restoration tag hanging on it will have a lot of bearing on it. Even then will it be safe? Is this estate a total loss? Will the executors, who had keys all along, be asked to explain the negligence? To what level should I expose myself and my staff? Many facets to this problem. The executors just stepped back outside locked the door and alerted me. Please help!
1 comment:
The mold problems isn't yours. It's the executor's. I suggest you advise them to contact a haz/mat team to take samples to determine what kind of mold(s) are in the house. Knowing that you can advise them to talk to conservators for each category to find out what kind of outcome to expect in saving each category & how much it will cost. The executors can then discuss w/the lawyers for the estate, the expenditure issue and what the problems may be for those who inherited a piece whose value may not exceed the cost of conservation--and if that IS a consideration to be made. Hope this helps. The legal aspect, in my opinion, has to be solved before the appraisal begins. The executors, perhaps, are in a lot of trouble.
Carol English
drenglish@comcast.net
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