Julie Hall

The Estate Lady

Julie Hall is an expert in dealing with personal property from the Depression era. Estate dissolution and helping grieving families make appropriate decisions during the estate settlement process are her specialties. She is a certified personal property appraiser, an estate sales professional, a residential content removal specialist, and a broker of fine items. As owner of The Estate Lady®, LLC, she brings 18 years of experience to families facing the overwhelming task of dissolving the family home.


Posted 01/27/2010

Conversation Starters for You and Your Parents

Ideas for broaching sensitive topics

By Julie Hall

It is never easy to talk with your parents about future issues. Here are some conversation starters that will make it more comfortable for you and your parents:

  • “Mom, you’ve been such a great help to me over the years. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
  • “Mom and Dad, sometimes I worry about you living all alone. Are there any things we could do to help you?”
  • “Dad, when Uncle Jim passed away, his family fought for weeks over things. Do you ever worry that Mike and I will be like that?”
  • “Ever since Mom’s stroke, I’ve been worried about your meals and things. Are you doing all right?”
  • “Jim and I started looking closer at our retirement account, and we’d love to pick your brain about all the things we need to know about retirement.”
  • “Dad, do you ever worry about Mom if she had to go it alone without you?”

Parents, listen to your children. And children, listen to your parents. This is a critical conversation for all of you, and you want to make sure you communicate well. Just like when we were kids at school, don’t be afraid to raise your hand and ask questions. Making assumptions or guessing about what the other party wants can be dangerous and lead to places you don’t want to go. Remember what your teachers used to tell you: there’s no such thing as a dumb question!

For more help on this and many other topics related to your aging parents and their stuff, please read my book, The Boomer Burden: Dealing with Your Parents’ Lifetime Accumulation of Stuff.

By Julie Hall
The Estate Lady Blog

[First posted January 25, 2010, at Julie Hall's Estate Lady Web site.]

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