Helping Your Elderly Parents Plan for Downsizing

Many retirees decide that they need to downsize their property, and move to a new home. However, moving is never as easy as packing a few boxes when you’re older. You have a lifetime’s worth of possessions that need to be sorted through before you can go anywhere. If your elderly parents are struggling to pare down what they own, read on to find out how to help them get settled and even set up a trust.

A Lifetime of Belongings Surrounds your Elderly Parents

When you do a declutter of your house, you find it quite easy. There’s clothes you don’t wear any more, some CDs you have replaced digitally. Things aren’t as important to you, so you find it’s simple to keep your home free of too many things.

Your parents come from a different age. They may well see it as wasteful to throw things away or give them to others. There may be a broken radio in the attic, but they may need a part from it one day. Plus, the belongings they have tell the story of the life they have spent together. They’ve lived and raised children in the house they’re currently living in, they don’t want to lose it if they don’t have to. It’s much harder for them to declutter.

When your Parents May Decide to Downsize

Of course, even though it’s hard your parents may decide they need to downsize their home. There’s several reasons why they may do this.

• – One or both of your parents may suffer with ill health, and need more care than family are able to give. That’s when they may decide to move to a San Diego senior housing complex. There, they can get the care they need from the staff who work there, and they know they’ll be less of a worry to their family.

 

• – If one of your parents passes away, the remaining parent may decide that they need to move somewhere smaller as they’re now living alone.

 

• – They may decide to do this in advance of any future life events, as a result of estate planning. They can arrange their will and other legal affairs, and downsize knowing if anything happens, the hard work has already been done.

Who can Help in the Moving Process

When your parents decide to move, of course you want to help them out as much as you can. However, you have your own responsibilities, and may not be able to be there as much as you would like. If you live in different states, it’s even more difficult.

A lawyer will be able to help your parents with any legal preparations they need to make before they decide to move. They can have their will made or revised, name people to take care of their affairs if they are unable to, and so on. If they do this, their minds can be put at ease before the move. Estate planning is always a good idea when it comes to major life events like these.

Then, they can call on a specialist moving company to help them sort through all of their belongings, and move them. This is especially important as they’re moving to a smaller home, such as those in a San Diego senior housing estate.

These movers are specially trained to help your parents sort through the items they’ve collected throughout their lives, and find them ways to move them on. They can oversee the sales of any items that are listed, and can take away other items marked for donation. They can take a lot of the heavy lifting off your parents.

They’re also great for breaking down the uncluttering process. They will take your parents room by room through the house, and help then plan for what needs to go. It’s an emotional process, and they understand that. They’ll give them the space and time they need to get their belongings pared down to a manageable level.

Have Discussions Now and Plan Ahead

There’s a lot of families who find themselves trying to sort through a loved one’s home at the darkest of times, such as when that loved one has passed away. When this happens, it’s incredibly difficult to know what to keep and what to donate or sell. That’s why it’s so important and sit down with your parents now and ask what they want for the future.

Ask what they want done with their possessions. They may well be holding onto some for family, but in fact nowadays children don’t want to hold on to items that their parents handed down to them. Discuss this now so you’re clear.

Make these decisions now, and when the downsize happens, it will be much easier on everybody. Your parents will thank you for it.