Top Eight List to Help an Elderly Parent Before Crisis

Dale of Transition Aging Parents has a nice post today listing the top 10 things to do to help an aging parent BEFORE a crisis ensues.

He quotes from an interview with  Julie Hall (”The Estate Lady”) who is  an estate expert and certified personal property appraiser, and who has spent her life helping families deal with their “parents’ lifetime accumulation of stuff”.

The following are 8 tips Julie shared to help us be proactive and take action now to help de-clutter our parents’ home.  It is best to do this BEFORE you get into a “crisis mode”

• Have the important conversations with your parent.
• Start to de-clutter your parent’s home.
• Discuss and document allocation of personal property and heirlooms.
• Tell Mom you are helping her “thin out” the house, and every time you leave the house, take a few bags of donation items with you.
• If your parent has already moved out of the house or passed away,begin the process of clearing out the house by using 3 separate piles (or even rooms) for donation, sell and keep.
• When in doubt, always have a personal property appraiser evaluate antiques and items you’re unsure of.
• Continue to keep in touch with siblings and keep everyone on the same page
• Always come from a place of love.

Click here to read the full post.

Julie Hall’s book, The Boomer Burden, Dealing With Your Parents’ Lifetime Accumulation of Stuff
Julie’s website: http://theestatelady.com/
Dale’s BlogTalkRadio interview with Julie