The short answer
You don't have to read any of it yet. Letters and photos can wait in boxes, somewhere cool and dry, until you want to open them. When you do, one way to handle them is to keep a few things, share some, and photograph or scan the rest.
The National Archives and the Library of Congress give plain advice on scanning and storing. Records about your parents can be ordered too: a service file, if a parent was a veteran, the original Social Security card application, and birth, death and marriage records.
In the full chapter
The chapter explains what exists and what to ask, then ends with what to do, what can wait so you can set it aside, and who can answer the questions that are yours alone.
The rules, phone numbers and web addresses in this book were checked against the agencies’, courts’ and organizations’ own pages in October 2026. Where a rule differs by state, the book names one state as an example. Check anything you rely on with the office itself.
From Book 7: The Second Parent
This page has the short answer from chapter 10. The full chapter explains, in plain words, what exists, what to ask, and who can answer. The book covers after the second death after the death.
Questions near this one
Other questions on related subjects, from this book and the others.
- What do I do with photos and papers I cannot throw away? Book 4, Their House
- How do I clear a house in stages? Book 4, Their House
- Where should my mother or father start? Book 6, Your Surviving Parent
- What can wait until after the funeral? Book 1, The First Month
Hear when The Second Parent is out
A short note when each book is out. Five or six emails a year at most. You can unsubscribe whenever you like.