My wife and I bought our home two years ago from a brother and sister whose parents both died in the past few years. Two old friends of the parents, one a lawyer, executed the estate. After two rounds of bidding with several other prospective buyers, my wife and I paid for the home “as is.” The price we paid was well above Zillow’s valuation. Since moving in, we’ve discovered all the minor problems you expect to see in a 100-year-old property. We found the leftover paint and bald tires that sellers really should deal with but never do. And in a storage space under the stairs to the basement, we found four toolboxes full of collectible coins and bills worth almost $10,000. A couple of notes indicate that at least some items were gifts from the sellers’ grandparents. No one has reached out to say there’s been a terrible mistake. I’d like to sell the collection, make a $1,000 charitable contribution for good measure and keep the rest. Yet I can’t help feeling a little slimy. What do you recommend? Name Withheld



I can’t advise you about your legal entitlements and responsibilities. But this wasn’t abandoned property; it was mislaid property. It isn’t that the sellers failed to recognize its value, as sometimes happens with forsaken detritus; they evidently didn’t know, or remember, that it was in their possession. So the sellers hadn’t intended to convey it to you when they sold the house. While you may be within your rights to keep it, you’d do well to let the sellers know what you discovered, and let them retrieve the toolboxes. Maybe they could take away those tires and paint cans while they’re at it.

I don’t know if this is an ethical dilemma or a moral one. I have no children or siblings. I want to leave my mini-fortune to children of my cousins. Can I give money to one I adore without giving any to his chillier sister? Or would that be too mean? Should I give some to her or even make it equal? I don’t want my legacy to be hurtfulness, but I also don’t want to do what I really don’t feel. I don’t dislike her; I just don’t groove with her. Name Withheld



You don’t mention any needs here, so I doubt that’s relevant. I doubt too these children are expecting anything from you. In short, you don’t have a moral duty to either of these not-very-close relatives — first cousins once removed. I’m not saying you’re wrong to wonder about the effect of significantly different treatment. That’s what the family will discuss at your funeral. But I don’t see people getting terribly hung up on the special relationships involving the child of a great-aunt or great-uncle. It’s not emotionally fraught the way parental favoritism can be.

If you wanted to soften the sting when it comes to the chillier sib, you could give the children equal amounts of cash but leave your favorite a valuable something — say, your home, especially if your favorite has spent more time in it than his sister has. People think of meaningful things differently from money. In order to control the message you send, consider leaving a letter for your favorite cousin once removed to say what you’ve done and why. If you find the letter hard to write, you might reconsider your allocation.