{"id":791925,"date":"2026-07-29T19:48:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T19:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/791925\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T19:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T19:48:11","slug":"americans-reveal-what-they-do-and-dont-prefer-to-inherit-from-a-loved-one-survey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/791925\/","title":{"rendered":"Americans reveal what they do \u2014 and don’t \u2014 prefer to inherit from a loved one: survey"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"SWNS\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

A statue of Abraham Lincoln<\/a>, a butter knife made of solid gold and a talking fish \u2014 these are just some of the things Americans say they\u2019ve inherited from a loved one.<\/p>\n

A new survey of 1,200 US respondents conducted by Talker Research on behalf of 1-800-GOT-JUNK? asked people to name the most interesting possessions passed down and saw Roman artifacts, \u201ca jacket from a well-known \u201970s country music outlaw\u201d and \u201ca giant garage-sized painting of a dog\u201d named.<\/p>\n

One respondent said they received \u201ca bale of cotton signed by John Wayne<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

A new survey of 1,200 US respondents conducted by Talker Research on behalf of 1-800-GOT-JUNK? asked people to name the most interesting possessions passed down from a loved one. 4595886 \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

The survey saw Roman artifacts, \u201ca jacket from a well-known \u201970s country music outlaw\u201d and \u201ca giant garage-sized painting of a dog\u201d named. SWNS<\/p>\n

One respondent said they received \u201ca bale of cotton signed by John Wayne.\u201d SWNS<\/p>\n

The results emerged as part of a wider study into how Americans accumulate items and organize their home<\/a>, which found that, when it comes to inheritance, most take a less-is-more approach.<\/p>\n

In fact, the majority (51 percent) of Americans would rather inherit a select few items from a loved one than everything they own.<\/p>\n

Nearly half of Americans surveyed (49 percent) say they\u2019d actually rather inherit nothing at all than have to deal with a relative\u2019s belongings.<\/p>\n

The results emerged as part of a wider study into how Americans accumulate items and organize their home, which found that, when it comes to inheritance, most take a less-is-more approach. SWNS<\/p>\n

The majority (51 percent) of Americans would rather inherit a select few items from a loved one than everything they own. SWNS<\/p>\n

Just 20 percent of those surveyed said they\u2019d choose to inherit every belonging a relative has over selected or special items handed over with notes and proper connection from the former owner.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur research shows that inheritance is often less about accumulation and more about connection,\u201d said Brian Scudamore, Founder and CEO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?. <\/p>\n

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\u201cThe items people treasure most tend to be the ones with a story behind them, whether that\u2019s a handwritten note, a shared memory or a piece of family history.\u201d<\/p>\n

The results emerged as part of a wider global study, which also saw respondents from Canada and Australia surveyed and showed people place much more significance on sentimental value than on simply acquiring more stuff.<\/p>\n

Nearly half of Americans surveyed (49 percent) say they\u2019d actually rather inherit nothing at all than have to deal with a relative\u2019s belongings. SWNS<\/p>\n

The results emerged as part of a wider global study, which also saw respondents from Canada and Australia surveyed and showed people place much more significance on sentimental value than on simply acquiring more stuff. Photographee.eu \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

That might be because 45 percent of Americans feel they are running out of space in the home, and it\u2019s leading to frustration.<\/p>\n

In fact, the majority of respondents (65 percent) say they\u2019re frustrated by how their stuff is organized at least weekly or more.<\/p>\n

Over half (52 percent) are frustrated by their belongings not being organized in some way multiple times a week and one in four (26 percent) say it\u2019s a daily grievance.<\/p>\n

A statue of Abraham Lincoln, a butter knife made of solid gold and a talking fish \u2014 these are just some of the things Americans say they\u2019ve inherited from a loved one. SWNS<\/p>\n

And while many of us are experiencing frustration from our things, it\u2019s not from a lack of effort \u2014 in fact, one in six (16 percent) says they declutter their home every single day, and 43 percent feel they do it at least weekly.<\/p>\n

But to really tackle sorting their entire home properly and organizing all belongings, the average American believes they\u2019d need 14 full days to fully clean, organize, donate and dispose of unwanted items throughout their place.<\/p>\n

No wonder then that the thought of adding to the stuff we own or the prospect of having to do it for a loved one takes a toll. <\/p>\n

The average American believes they\u2019d need 14 full days to fully clean, organize, donate and dispose of unwanted items throughout their place. SWNS<\/p>\n

Over half (58 percent) have had to clear out a relative\u2019s house in the past, and of those, the majority (56 percent) said dealing with all of their belongings made it difficult to fully grieve.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019ve learned from 37 years in the business is that the things people leave behind are never really just things \u2014 they\u2019re memory, identity, and sometimes, unfinished conversations,\u201d added Scudamore. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not just here to help with the physical side of clearing a home. We\u2019re here so families don\u2019t have to face that weight alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

12 of the most interesting things inherited<\/p>\n

A bale of cotton signed by John Wayne<\/p>\n

A pure gold butter knife<\/p>\n

Roman artifacts from 300 AD<\/p>\n

A jacket from a well-known 1970s country music outlaw<\/p>\n

A giant garage-sized painting of a dog<\/p>\n

A Tiffany stained-glass lamp<\/p>\n

A pair of lamps in the shape of legs<\/p>\n

A talking fish<\/p>\n

A clear glass donkey that doubles as a beer mug<\/p>\n

Marionettes from the 1800s made of clamshell paper<\/p>\n

An antique dentist chair<\/p>\n

A statue of Abraham Lincoln<\/p>\n

Research methodology:<\/p>\n

Talker Research surveyed a combined 2,200 respondents, including 1,200 Americans who are reported on above. <\/p>\n

The survey also included 800 Canadians and 200 Australians; all respondents have access to the internet. The survey was commissioned by 1-800-GOT-JUNK? and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between May 22 \u2013 May 27, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A statue of Abraham Lincoln, a butter knife made of solid gold and a talking fish \u2014 these…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":791926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[13011,28,3006,2065,149,147,530,111198,64285],"class_list":["post-791925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-americans","tag-business","tag-family","tag-inheritance","tag-lifestyle","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-survey-says","tag-surveys"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=791925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/791926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=791925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=791925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=791925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}