Law Office of Michael Baumer

06/21/2023

The next Small Business Education Thursday is only a few days away! Join us for the second part of our 3-part series on All Things Capital. Register today! https://rb.gy/cnwri

02/10/2023

Sister Took Parents’ Furniture to the Dump – Not to Storage.

This week someone wrote to Carolyn Hax, Washington Post advice columnist, that when she and her siblings had to quickly move their parents into assisted living, Letter Writer and her parents decided that it made most sense for the parents’ furniture to be saved for her sister’s children to use when they moved away from home. Sister seemed to go along with this during the hurried move. Several years later (yes, several), Letter Writer wanted to look at the stuff in storage. Oops. Sister confessed that had taken a carload of stuff home and had the rest hauled to the dump. Letter Writer felt betrayed. Letter Writer did not seem upset that she didn’t get the stuff but that Sister deprived her own children of useful furniture.

Carolyn and the commenters were largely unsympathetic. They argued:

Storage is expensive. If you pay $150 per month for storage, that’s $1800 per year – and $9,000 for 5 years. Furniture doesn’t hold up very well in storage unless the facility is climate controlled – which is even more expensive.

The grandkids won’t want their grandparents’ furniture and other junk when they are twenty-something and move into their first, probably tiny apartment.

Charity stores wouldn’t want the furniture and junk either. I don’t think this is true. But someone has to arrange for pick up and hang around on the date the charity can come, which could be weeks away. But if Letter Writer wanted to pursue this option, then she should have taken responsibility for contacting charities and making arrangements.

So what are my take-aways from the responses to the letter?

1. Help your parents downsize early so there is no rush to get rid of stuff when they need to move into assisted living or when they die. Downsize yourself so you can rehome or donate the things you think are not dump-worthy.
2 . Don’t lie or mislead. If don’t want to store items for your kids or anyone else, say: “I’m not paying to store this furniture. My kids won’t want it. If you want to store it, then you need to rent a facility, hire movers and pay for the storage.” If they try to convince you, “No. End of conversation.” Sister may have wanted to avoid an argument, but she ended up deliberately misleading Letter Writer and denied her the option of saving a few more of her parents’ belongings.
3. Don’t dump responsibility onto other people. Don’t pressure someone to keep stuff they don’t want just because they live closer or have a bigger house. If you do dump responsibility onto other people, don’t get upset when they don’t do what you thought they should do.
4. If you don’t want something but care what happens to it, say so and make it clear you will take responsibility for re-homing items that no one wants.
5. Let it go! It’s not like Sister had their parents hauled to the dump (topic for another blog?) – just some old furniture.

For an expanded version of my reaction, go to www.baumerestateplanning.com

01/17/2023

Although they sometimes seem hard to find, I agree with this writer that there are still heroes.

01/03/2022

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01/02/2022

In many situations, bankruptcy is actually the right and better choice to be made. With that, you can start helping your credit score, erase your debt, and stops collection calls!

12/31/2021

Do you struggle with maintaining your finances? Are you just not sure where to begin? Read this handy guide to help you figure out how.

Creating a financially secure life can feel like a daunting task. This Personal Finance 101 guide lays out seven key steps to get you working toward long-term security.

12/29/2021

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12/27/2021

Some habits may be prevented in early childhood. If you are interested in teaching your children how to manage their money wisely, here are some tips that might help:

From a young age, kids need to learn how to be savvy savers and thrifty spenders. Learn how you can teach your kids to be self-disciplined with money.

12/26/2021

12/25/2021

Historical: Did you know that the bankruptcy law was first brought into law only as a temporary remedy to bad economic conditions?

12/24/2021

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