How do retrieve personal items from apartment of deceased relative?

Answer 1

Be very careful. You must ask to have the items returned to you, or seek permission to enter the premises (from the executor), and you may be asked to produce some proof that the items actually belong to you.

The executor will presume that anything in the premises belongs to the estate of the deceased until proven otherwise, as it is the executor's duty to gather and protect all of the decedent's property from people who wander in making informal claims.

If the executor makes a mistake and gives you something that later turns out to have been the property of the decedent, you can be forced (in court) to give it back or pay to replace it if you have disposed of it.