Help- audiophile husband just dies

Not a bad idea either. Like you said, I wouldn't want somebody taking advantage of this situation.
First thing that needs to be done is to document everything in the collection, than it could be researched.

BillWojo

Take a picture of all the equipment & make sure to get the name brands of them in the picture & post them in the forum.
You can upload pictures from your phone to www.imgur.com & then just copy the links to them here.

Julie, if you do find out the brands and models of the gear in the collection, you can put that information in https://www.hifishark.com/ and see what recent sale prices have been.  Audiogon.com also has a bluebook option you can buy that offers similar functionality.

You can also look things up in the Audiogon "Blue Book." 

Is there anyone in her vicinity that could give Julie a hand?

She's got enough to deal with; her late husband's equipment should be the last thing on her plate, but something that could ensure some financial stability in the future.