In the emotional aftermath of losing a loved one and working with an estate planning attorney and in the chaos of making final arrangements and adjusting to life without them, it may feel like this chapter of your life will never end. And though time may feel like it’s in slow motion, the chapter will eventually transition into the next one. At that point, you may feel as if you have swapped one set of challenges for another. This may be the case, but there is assistance available, particularly when it comes to distributing some of the estate’s assets and dealing with your loved one’s home. Rather than place the burden of handling everything on your own, consider taking advantage of the services of a moving company.
Not All Moving Companies are Equal
Many moving companies specialize in picking up cargo or a home’s contents and transporting it to another location, whether it’s across town or across country. A smaller number of moving companies offer additional services as well. In the context of dealing with the closure of an estate, or cleaning out a deceased relative’s home, those moving companies that offer the following services can make a great deal of difference:
- Transportation of unwanted items that are suitable for donations to charity organizations.
- Transportation of recyclable materials to a recycling facility.
- Transportation of junk items to a refuse facility.
- Transportation of items to another location such as the heir’s home.
- Packing of items prior to transfer, whether they are large and heavy, fragile and valuable, or small and lightweight.
- Unpacking of items after transporting them to the new location.
- Cleaning of the original building as well as the new location prior to unloading items.
The Advantages of Hiring a Moving Company During or After Probate
One of the responsibilities of an estate executor is to locate the decedent’s assets. In many cases this is very straightforward if their assets are limited to retirement accounts, banking accounts, and items in the home as well as the house and vehicles. However, in other cases it can be more difficult. Assets that include commercial machinery located in other places or possessions that have been borrowed by others are but two examples. If the decedent owned an airplane, it may require special freighting, particularly if there are questions about its airworthiness. Hiring a moving company that is experienced with moving whatever assets need to be moved can take a lot of weight off the family’s shoulders when its time to transfer them post-probate.
Another advantage of hiring a moving company is that it can create a healthy buffer surrounding the assets. For instance, if it is too emotional to be in the now empty family home, hiring a moving company to transport the contents can make it easier on the surviving family members. Also, if the family home is not located nearby, out-of-town family members can arrange for a moving company to transport items so that they do not have to do this themselves.
If you are in the process of dealing with the loss of a family member, consider enlisting the help of a moving company to ease the difficulty of probate.
