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 02/03/2010

’Til Death Do Us Part

Why do we keep so many things?

By Julie Hall

Most of us enjoy hearing those words during a wedding ceremony as the new couple floats in bliss, envisioning themselves by each other’s side until death. From my perspective, however, I see people who have a very passionate relationship with their material possessions—sometimes more so than with each other! If I didn’t know any better, I would say they feel confident that they can take their possessions with them when they leave this earth.

With almost two decades in the estate industry helping people make decisions about the dissolution of personal property, I have seen it all. And in all those years, I have tried to figure out why people have such a hard time letting go.

Note that the Depression-era generation is often the one that accumulated the most. Their parents did not have much and probably possessed more utilitarian items, simply because of the times. When their parents passed away, they did not distribute or sell those items—they absorbed them, which means the boomers have much more to deal with when their Depression-era parents pass away.

Here are a few thoughts on why people hold on to so much:

  • You just never know when I’m going to need this.
  • There are so many things I could use this for.
  • If I only hold on to it long enough, it will become valuable.
  • It is already old, so it must be valuable.
  • I did without this as a child, and I will not do without again.
  • It was a gift, and I will honor the giver by keeping it.
  • The more I leave for the kids, the more they will have.
  • I worked very hard for these things, and I will pass them down.
  • They bring comfort and familiarity.
  • I have sentimental reasons for keeping it.
  • I have too much emotional attachment to let it go.
  • I’ll let my kids deal with this after I’m gone.

What do you think? I’d love to hear your reasons for keeping things (leave a comment below). We’ll talk more about the problem and the solutions in the next couple of weeks. Please come back!

By Julie Hall
The Estate Lady Blog

[First posted February 1, 2010, at Julie Hall's Estate Lady Web site.]

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