Even though the storage company knows who she is, legally she couldn't get it.

For nine years, David Young and his wife Stacy rented a unit at the Frontier Village Mini Storage in Lake Stevens.

Three years ago at age 39, David died suddenly of cardiomyopathy -- an undetected heart condition.

Emotionally, Stacy couldn't go near the unit for two and a half years. It held little in monetary value, but there were lots of memories. The only thing of real value was a small comic book collection.

In February, Stacy decided it was time to clean out the storage unit. She had been paying $47 a month since David died and wasn't using the unit to store new stuff.

After paying the monthly rent, Stacy says she told the company's on-site manager that she was going to clean out the unit.

That's when the manager told her the news.

"She said we could not be granted access based upon the fact that my name was not on the original storage rental," Young said.

The lease was in David's name only. Legally, no one could access the unit except David.

But Stacy says the people at the storage company knew David. He was their UPS driver for years. She says they knew her, they knew how he died and that some member of the storage staff attended his funeral.

"And the only thing that was repeated to me was, 'I'm sorry. This is the law.' "

She even showed the manager his death certificate.

"She (at the storage unit) graciously accepted it, but said 'I'm sorry, this is not enough.' "

What she didn't have was a will from David. He never wrote one.

Stacy says she didn't have enough money to hire an attorney to go through a lengthy and expensive probate process.

Terry Lawson, a representative of Frontier Village Mini Storage says either document would have opened the unit to Stacy.

"Without a legal documentation saying that Stacy is David's heir, would could not legally let her in the unit," says Lawson.

Washington state law prevents storage companies from handing over property to people other than those listed on the rental agreement, unless there's a court order. Young says an attorney told her of a cheaper alternative to probate. She says, the attorney suggested to stop paying on the unit, let the storage company put a lien on the goods and eventually buy them back at auction.

So Stacy stopped paying rent for the unit she could not get into. The storage company put a lien on the property and sent notice that it would be auctioned off. But the auction took place just a few days ago. Young says she was never told when or where it was going to take place.

"On a reasonable, compassionate level I would have just assumed there would have been notification this when the sale is going to be," she said.

Stacy points out that she has no ill will against the storage company and that they did give her some personal items they found and an apology.

She says, she's learned a tough lesson.

"Have a will. That's my biggest lesson learned. Have something as simple as a will."