Check out this engaging article in Newsweek about how families cope when hoarders die, leaving homes that are packed with a mix of junk, rotting food, family memorabilia and maybe even jewelry and cash.
Some family members rent a Dumpster and toss everything, while others sift through the clutter that fills their childhood home, looking for keepsakes.
Hannah Buchdahl writes: “I don’t think [hoarders] want to leave their children with a mess,” says Dr. Fugen Neziroglu, a psychologist with the Bio Behavioral Institute in New York. “They don’t go through in their minds what’s going to happen with the clutter, or what the kids are going to do with it.”
Several of my older clients (not hoarders) who are downsizing are very concerned about what’s going to happen to their things after they’re gone. They’re scaling back now, clearing out toys, obsolete gadgets and other items they know they won’t be using again and their children and grandchildren don’t want. I think they’re very considerate
Wow, how sad to lose a relative… and have to deal with this kind of situation as well.