Help! Dividing Household Contents

What is the best way to make sure that a fair division is made of the personal effects and furnishings of an estate when one of the parties involved does not want to divide up the items and wants to keep them for himself?

My grandmother passed away a few months ago in W. Va., leaving a large estate. Her Will states that everything in the house and all belongings that are not already mentioned in the Will are to be divided between by uncle and I “equally, share and share alike.” My uncle is also serving as the executor of the estate.

My problem is that my uncle has asked me if I would be willing to just pick out a few things and let him keep the rest. Grandma was the type that bought anything that caught her eye, filling her house with expensive antiques, glassware, etc. When she left half of the contents to me, she was intending it as a large inheritance for my children and me and she was intending it as a special honor. I do not want to be greedy, but I want her wishes to be followed and for things to be done evenly and fairly.

Is there any way that I can make sure that this is done in a fair manner to both of us?

Yes, tell him what you said in the posting.

In cases like this I'd often suggest that each of you begin selecting items, one by one, (I'll take the dining room table; then you choose one item, then I choose one, etc.) until they are all divided up. That's what share and share alike means. You can flip a coin to see who goes first, or be gracious and let him select first.

If he objects tell him to select something fair and that you will not accept his getting almost everything.

BUT be realistic. There are somethings that are valuable and some that are sentimental. And try not to destroy a family over it. Usually household goods have only relatively minor value -- the valuable stuff is usually specifically given out in the Will.

First let me say thank you for your response. If only things were always as simple as they are supposed to be. My uncle (the executor) has said that he has no intentions of dividing the items evenly. What are my options legally, as far as getting him to divide the items according to the wishes of the Will? At the moment he isn't even talking to anyone in the family and all questions have to go through his lawyer. We have the added problem that he has been institutionalized several times for mental problems and stopped taking his medications quite a while ago, making his actions very irrational (and sometimes violent.)

As I said originally, the contents and personal property are quite substantial. Grandma collected antiques and glassware and filled her house with them. Her Will was very simple, distributing real estate ect. to each member of the family and then making final remarks that all remaining bank accounts, household items, personal property, ect be divided equally between my uncle and I. You are right that many of the items may not have a great value individually (although many do), but the sheer volume of items does add up to a lot.

Again, I'm not wanting to sound greedy. I just want the the wishes of the Will to be followed and I'm needing to know what protection that I have.

Thanks.

P.S. If you are wondering why my grandma would have chosen this one of her children as her executor, we are all wondering the same thing. Maybe she was playing one last final joke on all of us in the family.