Do I have any rights not to sell it since I have possessed it for this long?

If he had a Will, his Will controls. If he didn't have a Will, and all of his children are children of his wife, your Mom, then she inherits all. But this is a bad situation that could blow your family up. It sounds like she needs money can you or your sister help out, or buy some of the things from her? What, really, is the market value of these things? A few thousand dollars? Please try not to rip your family apart for a few thousand dollars. Look for compromise: sell some things, keep some things. Work it out.

Seems to me she made a gift to you and your sister of all of your father's personal items. That is your defense. Don't give back anything. She may sue you in small claims court, but you should prevail.

The question is who owns it. Just because your mom asked you to take it out of the house doesn't mean that you now own it. It's like going to a valet service.if you hand the keys to valet are you actually handing over title? No, certainly not. The valet is acting like a bailee and you are the bailor under the law. The bailee has a duty to take care of your item until you request it back. You don't lose your ownership simply because you gave him the keys. On the other hand, you are arguing that your mother was dumping the items like trash and that you own it by virtue of the fact that it was trash. Both of you would have valid arguments but at the end of the day, I believe your mom would prevail because she was a grieving widow and making pure decisions and that she asked her children to simply remove the stuff so as help her get thru this. If she had asked a trash company then the intent is clear, but asking your children to help you out is significantly different and the intent is less clear and most judges would lean to a bailee/bailor situation which makes more sense. Again, the facts will change the analysis so I would advise you to contact a competent attorney to assess the situation.

Arguably she gave it to you when she told you to remove it and did not specify (or care) where it went. So it was either abandoned in your care or a completed gift by her to you. Either way you have a right to keep it. By The Way If she waits a little longer, you may have an absolute defense to any lawsuit because the statute of limitation is 3 years for "conversion" of personal property. SO if she does not actually file a lawsuit against you to get it back within 3 years (the lawsuit is for conversion) you can ignore her requests for return of the personal property. The above said, going against her wishes will cause consternation and arguments so I hope you are not intending to be close with her if you decide not to give it back.

Which is probably her right as the owner of the property. I think you need to do a little bit of talking with mom to get her to understand you want something to remember dad, not much just a guitar each.

Legally, possession is not determinative. Your siblings can probably force you to share the assets, if they can prove what you already owned.

Usually the estate is required to be settled within a year of the death. As nothing was done with the musical equipment and the estate should be settled and closed by now, you can assume that you inherited the items. However, a compromise would be to keep the things you and your sister want and let your mother sell the rest and keep the proceeds.

There are a number of issues all wrapped up in this. Without knowing why your mother feels the way she does, it is more difficult to make any suggestions. A couple of points, though. Personal items like this do not have title. This is where the expression, "Possession is 9/10s of the law," comes from. One practical problem with this, however, is that if you take this stand, it may so irritate your mother that she decides to write you and your sister out of HER estate. So you need to be prepared to deal with fallout from whatever stand you take. She cannot prove ownership of the items in question, any more than you can. Without paying money to open an estate for your father, your mother cannot get legal authority to FORCE you to turn these items over. Finally, at this point, this is more a family issue than a legal issue. Hopefully, you and your sister can discuss this with your mother and persuade her that being able to use these items and remember your father is more important than the money that they might bring in from disinterested strangers.