Good day....I am the only daughter of 4 siblings and my mother, who is a widow, has Alzheimers Disease and does not have a will. When she passes, what is the etiquette involving her jewelry. My sister-in-law wants me to distribute the jewlery among all my mother's granddaughters. I have been told by many that the jewelry should go to me, being the only daughter and I can decide who gets what. What is the proper etiquette regarding this issue?Thank you
Already Tried: So far, my mother's jewelry is in my care and locked away.
Hi, My name is XXXXXX XXX I am your Etiquette Expert.Thank-you very much for your question. I am so sorry to hear about the condition of your mother.You are right - the jewelry should go to you as the only daughter of four siblings - absent there being a will or some other instruction from your mother that she made earlier in her life.What you do with the jewelry is the next question for you to consider. You have several options here. You might retain it and pass it on to others at some point in the future or you may decide to distribute it amongst the siblings either as the jewelry or by selling and dividing up the proceeds. You may want to consider getting the item valued and documented so there is a clear record of the items ans their individual and collective value. Unfortunately this can often because a difficult issue to work through so I am glad that the jewelry is safely locked up. Good luck with this. If you have any related follow up questions I would be happy to answer them for you.