There isn’t a huge difference in dividing personal property after death compared to other types of property, besides the fact that dividing personal property may be easier.
For example, if a house were willed to pass to multiple beneficiaries, the personal representative may be forced to sell the house since a house rarely can be fairly and equitably divided. Once they finalize the sale, the proceeds from the sale may be divided among beneficiaries according to their percentage interests in the house.
Personal property, on the other hand, may be easier to form agreements around. For instance, even if a will instructs for a parent’s personal property to be divided equally between you and your sibling, the personal representative wouldn’t necessarily need to sell the personal property to carry out the terms of the will. Rather, they could distribute all of it to you and your sibling, and the two of you could decide amongst yourselves who gets what.
That said, dividing personal property after death also has the potential to get complicated. It really just depends on whether or not there is a will and on how willing the beneficiaries and/or heirs are to compromise with one another.
