I chose the perfect time to crack and read this book. My father and mother both spent significant time in the hospital last summer and they are getting up in years. The term "pack-rat" is also an understatement in describing them, they have multiple dwellings and outbuildings and all are stuffed. This book is about the delicate task of getting older parents and their baby boomer children doing everything they can to resolve property issues before it is too late for the parents to be involved. It is such a sensitive manner, because it involves the issues of facing your mortality, dealing with the thought or presence of a loss, the lifetime of memories that a baby boomer has, and the almost certain presence of multiple grandchildren.
Merely one generation ago when children generally did not drift far away from their parents, there was constant physical contact between parents and their children. In many cases, they shared the same dwelling or had separate residences on the same land. Things are different now. In the modern world, children generally set up residence some distance away and lose track of what their parent's dwellings are like. Many of the parents also lived through the depression and so keep anything that could possibly have value. Hall recounts instances of dwellings packed with newspapers, old plastic containers, empty glass jars and old magazines that have taken years to accumulate. The elderly parents are often reluctant to explain to their children exactly what their assets are and who should be the one to receive them. Finally, as is the case in every endeavor involving humans and assets, the death of a parent often brings out the base element of greed. Not only among the descendents, but often among friends and neighbors of the deceased and it can appear before death if the person is mentally deficient. All of this in combination creates a veritable mine field of danger and Hall does an excellent job in describing ways you can prevent their being laid, detect them and even defuse them when encountered.
I plan on implementing several of the suggestions put forward in this book and I strongly encourage people on both sides of the parent - boomer relationship to read this book with an open heart and open mind. Issues of life, death and inheritance are extremely difficult and the best way to handle them is early and with openness, honesty and without passion. Hall explains how to do all of these things in order for you to do the best you possibly can in a bad but unavoidable situation.
