In these modern times, families often live apart from each other far-flung across the globe. Being apart from family is easier than it was in the past due to the advances in communication. We are no longer restricted to phone calls, letters, and emails allowing us to keep close relationships with loved ones regardless of where they live. However, there can be logistical concerns in these relationships, especially when dealing with inheritances or movement of family heirlooms.
Shipping larger and more valuable personal items can be a challenge, especially as many people have no experience in this area.
Law firms are often hired by distant relatives or local authorities to assist in settling those estates in which the deceased have family members that live out of state or in another country.
In this example, we will use the case of a deceased bachelor who lived in Washington, on the west coast. The poor fellow died alone, with no will, and with no friends or family close by. The only family the authorities were able to locate were distant relatives in Australia.
The Australian relatives hired a law firm to assist them with the administration of the estate and to liaise with local authorities. Don’t forget there’s also courier service Singapore to India.
One of the law firm’s paralegals (let’s call her Suzy) was given the task of organizing delivery of the deceased bachelor’s estate to his distant relatives in Australia.
The local authorities agreed to arrange the process of going through the deceased’s apartment, packing up everything of value to be sent along. It was discussed that once this was done, they would let Suzy know and she would arrange for shipping to Australia.
Meanwhile, Suzy was a bit worried. How was she going to organize this shipment of a person’s earthly valuable goods all the way across the world? It wasn’t a task she had ever done before and she felt a responsibility to the deceased and his family to make sure his possessions were treated with care. She had plenty of experience shipping paper internationally but goods were another matter entirely.
No one had told Suzy just how much stuff was going to be shipped, but the words art and antiques had been mentioned. A man had died and the most important assets from his entire life needed to be dealt with. Suzy was pretty sure that calling up the local courier like she normally did would not work this time.
Suzy decided to get a head start and figure out what to do before she had an estate dropped in her office. She was still recovering from the time she received a phone call asking if she could keep a deceased’s ashes on her desk …. only until the executor returned from his Hawaiian vacation, of course. Suzy did not want to deal with a similar surprise situation. There was no way she was going to risk having to work around someone else’s prized possessions; she better figure this issue out sooner rather than later.
Suzy did some sleuthing and was able to find a source of shipping crates and a reputable shipping company to assist with the transport of the assets. Relieved that there was an easy solution to the issue, Suzy went back to her other work, prepared for the call from the local authorities when the estate was ready to ship.
Sure enough, a few weeks later Suzy got a call that everything was ready to ship to Australia, along with an itemized list of the pieces that would be shipped. As she had suspected, there were quite a few valuable paintings and pieces of furniture included in the inventory.
Suzy called the professional shipping company she had found earlier. They offered a quote and the pick up was scheduled. The shipping company knew how to wrap up and package the valuable art and furniture in such a way that they would be safely delivered across the globe. The day arrived and everything went smoothly. Suzy was relieved her part of the job was complete.
As you have seen, dealing with the shipping of large personal items can be stressful. Mainly this stress is caused because doing things we aren’t familiar with sometimes makes us a bit nervous.
Shipping large items across the country or internationally isn’t ever going to be as easy as sending an email, but hiring a good shipping company can make shipping much easier and more accessible.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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