Hi,
Not being a lawyer - I would only say get one.  Or failing that, have your board
president find out more about your rights from the probate judge.  The attorney for
the estate isn't the only person who controls the estate.
Greg Koos
McLean County Museum of History

Ann Morton wrote:

> Many thanks to all who responded to my initial request for help (especially for
> the words of encouragement, which are much appreciated).
>
> We do have a collections policy, which covers what we collect, and conditions,
> etc... (basically, we don't accept gifts, donations, etc... with strings).  We
> all agreed that some basic statements about the historical value of the items
> to the Society, in terms of our collections policy, presented to the estate was
> a good idea (more than that, our collections policy and terms of our NYState
> charter require it).
>
> We have already sent them a copy of our policy, with the relevant sections
> highlighted, an explanatory letter covering our policies, accessioning
> practices, definition of our permanent collection, implications of tax
> laws.......  and basic statements of historic value for each individual major
> piece, and by box for the ephemera collections--these are generalized, but
> cover the section(s) of our collecting  which each piece falls under.
>
> At present, they are asking for the individual historical significance of each
> individual major piece, in some detail (they are not interested in any
> information on the smaller pieces) and a detailed statement of where and how
> each piece will be used in our collection.  And they have told us that we
> cannot have the collections of original paintings by the deceased's sister in
> law (a well-know local artist), in any case, these the executors will "dispose
> of separately."
>
> We have only two part time staff  and an extremely megre budget (like most
> small historical societies); we have no funds to hire a lawyer.  Does anyone
> know of any agencies, funds, groups, etc.... who help out historical societies
> in cases like these?
>
> Ann Morton
> Curator
> Wayne County Historical Society