Executor- how to deal with items not covered by the will?

[Iamnofool]

The will was written ten years before the death in 2023. Probate has been obtained. The house is dealt with. There are some specific bequests - dealt with. There are three residuary beneficiaries, spouse and two relatives, with the estate split equally between them. The spouse still lives in the marital home and "all furniture and household goods" have been left to them.
The deceased was a collector - and hoarder. His main collection was instructed to be sold and form the residuary estate, along with bank accounts, with the collectibles being worth far more than the money. So far so good.
Other collections are less valuable, but are not mentioned in the will. They have gone to auction, together with various other household items, DIY tools, electronic equipment and stuff from the garage / shed. All the proceeds have been paid into the account the executor has set up, but it is not specifically an Estate Account. As Executor I now have to decide which of those proceeds belong to the estate and which to the spouse.
Some items are obviously belonging to the spouse, who took the opportunityof the sale to dispose of them. But what about the clocks and watches and other collectibles? Do they all belong to the spouse, on the basis that they were not obliged to sell any of them?
Is this a moral question rather than a legal one?
Any thoughts welcome. Thank you.

[Pezza54]

In my opinion you should have checked which items in the sale belonged to the spouse and kept the proceeds of these items separate from the executor's account you set up. Items that are not mentioned in the will and do not belong to the spouse are part of the residuary.
You need to point out what you have done to the main beneficiaries and explain why the total residuary value in the account is going to be reduced for the spouse's personal items before it is split 3 ways
You need to show this calculation clearly in the estate accounts, listing the spouse's personal items and their values

[PallasAthena]

Is the definition of Household and Personal Goods given by HMRC for IHT any help to you? It implies that 'Household Goods' and 'Personal Goods' are different things but lumps them together for IHT purposes.

'The term 'household and personal goods' means things such as furniture, pictures, paintings, china, TV, audio and video equipment, cameras, jewellery, cars, caravans, boats, antiques, stamp collections and so on. '

There seems to be no specific legal definition of 'household goods' in England. This USA site, although commenting on US law, gives the flavour of what I'd take it to mean in England in everyday usage: Understanding the Legal Definition of Household Goods: A Guide for Business Owners (fitterlaw.com). There is Scottish law making clear that household goods does not include money, securities, motor vehicles/caravans or domestic pets, but that law is for a different purpose, not for probate.

Does any of this help you decide what should go to the spouse and what to the residuary beneficiaries?

Hopefully if relationships between all those involved are on friendly terms you will be able to get to an agreement everyone is happy with without having to crawl over the legal definitions too much.

But do make sure, as advised above, that what is agreed is set out in the estate accounts to avoid arguments later.

My lay person's opinion FWIW is that DIY tools and the stuff in the garage/shed (if it's like the junk in mine) would be household goods because they are there to be used in the home, to keep the household functioning (even if in fact they never were so used). But a specific collection of watches/clocks etc, acquired as collectibles and potentially investments not for use as timekeepers in the home, are not household goods (although they are, in HMRC's definition, 'personal goods'). But your opinion on this is as valid as mine.

[atticus]

Everything that is not specifically dealt with in the will is residue, i.e. "everything else".

[Iamnofool]

Thank you for the replies and the links.
When the auction people came to collect the goods to be sold, they were all together in the garage. They wanted only one contact and one bank account. It was not practical to divide the items up, though with hindsight it would have been better to have done so before they arrived.
At that stage, I was of the mind that everything that was not actually the spouse's ( some ceramics, a stamp collection etc ) was part of the residual estate, but once you consider "furniture and household goods", that puts a different light on it.
I am of the view that the clocks and watches are certainly collectibles. The majority were not in use. A greyer area is electronic gadgets and tools, microphones, old radios etc. but I think they had become collectibles.
Everything else eg silver ornaments formerly in use or on display, general DIY tools, wooden storage units etc will be classed as "household goods".
Does that sound about right?
There will be no difficulty explaining to the beneficiaries and I am not anticipating any awkward questions from them. Relationships are very amicable, thankfully.

[PallasAthena]

That all sounds practical and sensible. Go with it.

I'd hate to be the person who had to draft an all purpose definition of the difference between household goods and a collection of valuables. It would be so hard that's probably why there isn't one! Stuff like old books and paintings could easily be both. But I digress, I think you are fine doing what you propose. Just make sure you document it.