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Nearly all of us over 55 have experienced it, either first hand or through a close friend. The loss of a loved parent, expected or not, is usually difficult to cope with – on so many levels. Your focus is on the loss: your personal loss, the loss to those around you, and the support you and they need. Reflecting on the life lost to us, the characteristics, the values, and the idiosyncracies that made that person special occupies our energy and thoughts, when there is pressure to attend to a host of other matters.

While it can often be put off for a while, one of the tasks following loss is sorting and clearing personal possessions. Both emotionally and physically draining, families often feel that they express respect and cherish the life that created the estate through the process of making decisions about the destination of possessions. Determining what to keep, what to give away, and what to sell is not always straightforward. As Lee Hughes put it in a recent article in The Age (Confronting One of Life’s Hardest Tasks, 4/3/17): “It’s quite intrusive and it’s a really difficult thing to go through, particularly when you’ve lost them and you’re sifting through their memories.”

Our experience is that every family is different. Some just need help with the physical aspect – packing, removing any rubbish – while others need advice about how to organise and sell treasures. Some need a complete package including preparation of an inventory, online viewing of items so family can pick and choose remotely, and sales with complete.

Whatever the need, caring for items that make up a deceased estate is part of expressing respect and love for the person that has been lost to us.

For more information about our Estate Services, click here