A Place For Mom
Whether moving a senior loved one across the country into a new home, or moving both parents into a senior community, or to assisted living, the process can be challenging. Many scenarios require the need to move a senior parent from their own home, and their adult children will want to ensure the transition goes smoothly, tending to their health, finances and logistics. These six tips can make this difficult process easier.
Total Estate Management can & will assist you with all the areas detailed below:
1. Communication and Choice
Seniors can be emotionally vested in the home they’re leaving, and it’s expected that there will be sadness and apprehension about the move. It can be a tough conversation to have with your aging parent, but give them time to grieve the change and talk about where they will be living and why they are moving, in order to help make the transition smoother. When seniors are asked to leave their long-time homes, a frequent cause of distress is their perceived loss of control, so give your loved one as much choice as possible as they plan and implement the move.
2. Plan Effectively
Before families begin the sorting and organizing process, it will help to have a visual of what they are getting into. What rooms need to be furnished? How many square metres is the new residence? Plotting a floor plan of your loved one’s new home on graph paper with cut-out pieces to represent furniture helps decision making
3. Enlist Relatives
This will undoubtedly be a big job, so enlist help from your family. Encourage siblings or other close family members to take time off work. Even children and younger members in the family can participate. Surrounding your senior parents with loved ones who are supportive and encouraging could help ease the emotional stress of moving as well.
4. Sort and Organize
Moving your elderly parents will involve downsizing. Go through the house item by item with your support team. You can categorize objects to make the process easier: items to be moved, keepsakes to be left with family, items to be sold or donated and items for recycling or thrown out. Don’t allow yourself to become a packing robot lacking feelings. Honour the emotional attachment to personal belongings and allow your senior parent to reminisce as you help sort out their possessions. Remember, these are not just things you’re moving, they’re memories. Be open to your own emotions, especially if this was your childhood home.
5. Clean and Repair
After the organizing and packing is complete, there is work that still needs to be done. Whether the house is going to be sold, rented or passed on to another relative — the general requirements are the same. The house should be cleaned & prepared both inside & out. Consider making any required economical repairs now before things get worse.. It’s better to take care of maintenance issues all at once rather than dealing with them later while the house is for sale, or after renters move in.
6. Plan the Moving Day
There are a few different strategies for moving your senior loved one into their new home. A full service mover is the easiest way to go, but can be the most expensive. They will load everything, deliver to its destination and put things in place. Families can save some money on the move by using a self-service mover, whereby family load the moving truck with a professional driver. Then there’s the do-it-yourself (DIY) option where you can rent a moving truck or trailer which is not cheap with fuel & mileage rates added.
This discussion of costs doesn’t even mention the most precious cargo of all: your loved ones.
Of course, each family’s circumstances are unique, so we’re hesitant to give blanket advice – but we hope these tips help you better plan and arrange your elder loved one’s next move.
Article by Jeff Anderson, April 28, 2014