Don’t Call It Swedish Death Cleaning, But Decluttering Is An Important Step In Your Estate Plan

The clickbait mongers of the world would have you believe that in Sweden, where the grass is somehow always greener, even in the months of the year where the daylight hours do not amount to four hours, people are so much at peace with death that they clear their houses of clutter while they are alive and well and then, in a clutter-free house, they patiently wait for the inevitable. They might not have much stuff, but at least there will not be a bunch of junk for their families to clean out after they are gone. Swedish death cleaning doesn’t sound like much fun, but then, decluttering isn’t much fun in general, no matter what the motivation is. The problem with decluttering is that it seems like an endless project. No matter how much clutter you remove, there is always more. How can you tell when you are finished? If you engage in Swedish death cleaning, do you continue tidying until you either drop dead or your health declines to where you can no longer continue the project? Now that you are retired, you have no excuse not to declutter, but you also have no clear goal in mind for it, either. Why not declutter until you reach a decision about whether to age in place or eventually move to assisted living? If decluttering alone doesn’t do the trick to enable you to make a firm decision, contact a Tampa estate planning lawyer.

Whether You Age in Place or Move to Assisted Living, the Clutter Must Go

Deciding whether to age in place or move to an assisted living facility is a difficult choice, especially if you do not have long-term care insurance, and your own way to afford assisted living is to sell your house. By this logic, decluttering serves a similar purpose to a spiritual labyrinth, namely contemplation. By the time you get to the end, you might have consistently felt that maintaining your house is too much work. If cleaning your house is this much work while you are this healthy, how will it be when you are less mobile? By contrast, by the time you have gotten rid of all the superfluous stuff in your house, you might feel more attached to your home than others. Decluttering can be like saying goodbye to your house and everything in it and then realizing that you can’t bear to leave.

Emotions can be a powerful factor in your decision to age in place or move to an assisted living facility, but you should not base your decision on emotions alone. An estate planning lawyer can help you think through the legal and financial aspects.

Contact David Toback About Decluttering Your Way to Clarity

A Central Florida probate lawyer can help you plan for your long-term care at home or in an assisted living facility.  Contact David Toback in Tampa, Florida to set up a consultation.

Source:

msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/i-m-81-and-decluttering-my-house-so-that-my-kids-don-t-have-to-deal-with-the-mess-when-i-die-it-s-a-strange-but-important-task/ar-AA1VnMP4?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ACTS&cvid=697e699277ce45b284c7bafbbea9e87f&ei=34