Estate Storage: What to Do With a Loved One's Belongings

Losing someone is hard enough without the pressure of figuring out what to do with everything they owned. If you’re dealing with a parent’s house, a spouse’s belongings, or an inherited estate in southeast South Dakota, storage gives you the time and space to make decisions without rushing. Here’s how to approach it.

First: Give Yourself Time

This isn’t a race. There’s no rule that says you have to empty a house in two weeks. There’s no timeline that makes grief more efficient.

When a loved one passes, the practical demands hit immediately — and they hit hard. The house needs to be dealt with. The stuff needs to go somewhere. Family members have opinions. Maybe there’s a mortgage or lease creating a deadline. Maybe probate is involved.

All of that is real. But here’s what we tell people: a storage unit buys you time. Time to grieve. Time to think clearly. Time to involve family in decisions about heirlooms and keepsakes without the pressure of an empty-the-house-by-Friday deadline.

Estate storage isn’t about avoiding decisions. It’s about making better ones.

The Legal Side: What to Know First

Before you start packing boxes, understand the legal framework. This matters especially when multiple heirs are involved.

Probate

If the estate goes through probate — the legal process of distributing a deceased person’s assets — the executor or personal representative has authority over the property. In South Dakota, probate can take anywhere from a few months to over a year depending on the estate’s complexity.

During probate, the executor typically decides what happens to physical belongings. If you’re not the executor, coordinate with them before moving anything.

Multiple Heirs

When siblings or multiple family members are involved, things get complicated. Everyone has memories attached to different items. One person wants Grandma’s china. Another wants Dad’s tools. A third wants to sell everything.

What works: Get everyone in the same room (or on the same call) early. Make a plan before anyone starts loading a truck. Document everything — photographs of items, written agreements about who gets what. Storage gives you a neutral holding ground while those conversations happen.

Insurance

Check whether the deceased person’s homeowner’s insurance is still active. Once a house is unoccupied for an extended period, most policies lapse or coverage changes. Your renter’s or homeowner’s policy may extend some coverage to items in a storage unit. Ask your insurance agent — and do it before you move anything.

The Sorting Process

Clearing an entire household is overwhelming. Don’t try to do it in one weekend. Break it into manageable steps.

Step 1: Secure Valuables Immediately

Before anything else, remove and secure: - Important documents (will, deeds, titles, insurance policies, tax returns, financial records) - Jewelry and small valuables - Cash, checkbooks, and financial items - Medications (dispose of properly) - Firearms (secure immediately — this is a safety and legal priority)

These items go to a secure location — a family member’s home or a safe deposit box. Not into storage.

Step 2: Sort Room by Room

Don’t try to categorize the entire house at once. Work one room at a time with four destinations:

Keep (Family) — Items with sentimental or practical value that a family member wants.

Keep (Undecided) — Items nobody is sure about yet. This is where storage comes in. It’s OK to put things in a “decide later” category. Better to store something for six months than throw it away and regret it.

Sell or Donate — Items with value but no family claim. Estate sales, consignment shops, auction houses, and donation centers all serve this category.

Dispose — Broken items, worn-out clothing, outdated materials, items with no resale or sentimental value.

Step 3: Handle the Sentimental Items

This is the hard part. Every coffee mug, every book, every piece of clothing carries a memory. You can’t keep everything, but you don’t have to decide right now what to let go.

Practical advice: - Photograph items before deciding. Sometimes a photo of Grandpa’s workbench is enough — you don’t need the actual workbench. - Keep a small “memory box” of representative items rather than trying to preserve entire rooms. - Accept that different family members will value different things. Dad’s fishing rod might mean nothing to you but everything to your brother. - It’s OK to store sentimental items for months (or years) while you process. Storage is cheap compared to regret.

What to Store and How

Items Worth Storing

• Furniture — Heirloom pieces, quality furniture that a family member may want later, items being held for a future estate sale
• Documents and photos — Family records, photo albums, letters, genealogy materials (use climate-controlled storage)
• Collections — Books, records, art, antiques, tools, hobby equipment
• Household items — China sets, silverware, quilts, linens that have sentimental or monetary value
• Undecided items — Anything you’re not ready to make a call on

Packing Estate Items for Storage

Estate belongings deserve extra care — many are irreplaceable.

• Wrap furniture in moving blankets, not plastic wrap (plastic traps moisture)
• Use acid-free tissue paper for delicate textiles, quilts, and linens
• Store photos and documents in sealed plastic bins with silica gel packets — climate-controlled storage is strongly recommended
• Label everything clearly — who it’s for, what’s inside, and any special notes
• Create an inventory — a simple spreadsheet or handwritten list of what’s in each box and where it’s located in the unit
• Photograph the unit once packed — this helps when you need to find something later

How Much Space Do You Need?

Estate storage needs vary widely: - A few sentimental items and documents: 5x5 unit - Contents of a couple rooms: 5x10 or 10x10 - Most of a house: 10x15 or 10x20 - An entire household: 10x20 or 10x30

Our storage unit size guide breaks down exactly what fits in each size with real-world examples.

How Long Do People Typically Need Estate Storage?

There’s no standard answer. We see everything from three months to three years.

Common timelines: - 3-6 months — Probate is straightforward, family agrees on distribution, and items are moved to their final destinations - 6-12 months — Multiple heirs, some items going to estate sale, some decisions still pending - 1-3 years — Complex estates, family members not ready to make final decisions, items being held for grandchildren or future use

Month-to-month leases at Lock N’ Leave It Storage mean you’re never locked into a timeline that doesn’t fit your situation. Use the unit as long as you need it. When you’re ready to close it out, give us notice and you’re done.

Local Resources for Estate Management

If you’re managing an estate in the Tyndall, Springfield, Freeman, or Yankton area, these resources may help:

• Estate sale companies — Several operate in the Yankton and Sioux Falls area and will manage the entire sale process for a percentage of proceeds
• Auction houses — Local auctioneers handle farm estates, household auctions, and specialty collections
• Donation centers — Goodwill, Salvation Army, and local church thrift stores accept household items, clothing, and furniture
• Document shredding — For sensitive papers you don’t need to keep, mobile shredding services come to you
• Legal assistance — Attorneys in Yankton and the surrounding area handle probate and estate law. If the estate is complex, get professional help.

A Word About Family Dynamics

Estates bring out the best and worst in families. Disagreements over belongings are common and painful. Storage helps by removing the urgency. When the house doesn’t have to be emptied by next Tuesday, conversations can happen at a pace that allows everyone to be heard.

If family members are in different states — common in rural South Dakota, where kids often move away — storage holds everything until people can travel back to sort through it.

And if things get contentious, a neutral storage unit is better than one sibling’s garage. Nobody has to feel like someone else already took the best stuff.

Lock N’ Leave It Storage: Here When You Need Us

Dealing with a loved one’s estate is one of the hardest things you’ll do. We can’t make it easier, but we can make the storage part simple.

Lock N’ Leave It Storage in Tyndall, Springfield, and Freeman offers clean, secure units in a range of sizes. Month-to-month leases. Climate-controlled options for sensitive items. No pressure, no rushed timelines.

Take the time you need. We’ll keep everything safe until you’re ready.

Contact us to find the right unit for your situation. We’re happy to help you figure out what size makes sense — no obligation, no sales pitch.