<p>Necessary for food, flowers, donations to a memorial fund, etc.</p>
<p>Not necessary for sympathy cards. However, it is perfectly fine for you to write a short letter to that old family friend later on, and say how many happy memories their kind note brought back to you.</p>
<p>Thank you all for such detailed and helpful information! We were able to get a copy of the deed online and found that the house is held as joint tenants with right of survivorship. We also were able to find the existing mortgage and, as JHS suspected, it is in both my nephew and his wife AND my FIL’s names, so this is where it gets a bit murky. Fortunately, we have a close friend who is also our lawyer familiar with settlements, but H and I were trying to get a handle on the basics before he meets with him next week. We had no idea that FIL was on the mortgage so that is certainly useful information to share with lawyer.</p>
<p>Thank you for your condolences…he was a good man and great Grandpa.</p>