Nothing quite like showing up at someone’s shop or where your games are and getting them. Surely you have pictures of them in your home or something. As a one man operation that’s a bit easier. Definitely always mark your property!

As for Thad I’m sure somebody knowledgeable can go there and find your CPU. He’s gotta have pinball friends. Did you have any pictures? I always take pictures of my things when I mail them out for insurance purposes if they’re damaged.

I was on the other end of a situation like that about 15 years ago. My father died suddenly, he owned/ operated a gun shop for some 30 years. Did lots and lots of repair work, thousands of guns there. So many people came after my mother saying they had left this or that there for repair years earlier etc, some was sorted through bookwork , but most not. It was very difficult, my mother was harassed, threatened with court, etc over and over again. She had no money, no savings, etc and made a bad situation even worse for her. At some point we borrowed money and just paid off most people for what they claimed they had, tried to be a decent judge of character, but who knows. Keep that in mind that a widow or partner probably won't have any idea about what a pinball board even looks like

When I need board repairs that are above my skill level and I send them to a pro, I always use a key tag with my name, address, and phone number on it. I remove the metal bit, and put a zip tie through the loop of the keytag, and one of the holes on the board. That way, there's never a concern over whether or not a board is mine.

https://www.harborfreight.com/color-coded-key-rings-12-pc-69726.html