cremation services in Phoenix, AZ

How to Downsize After a Death

After cremation services in Phoenix, AZ, one of the things that you’ll need to do is downsize.

You’ll need to start closing the door on your loved one’s life. First, you will need to get their legal, insurance, financial, digital, and work-related matters taken care of.

You will need certified death certificates do take care of most of these things, so you need to ask the funeral home for at least 10 to 15 copies (if your loved one has a lot of assets or a substantial estate, you will need at least twice that many).

However, you will probably find that doing these things will be relatively straightforward compared to the job of deciding what to do with your loved one’s personal possessions.

The things your loved one has and owns are part of what defined them. Perhaps your loved one collected antique furniture. Perhaps they were artists and they have a bevy of art materials. Maybe they were readers and collecting books was important to them. Or perhaps they played music, either professionally or for pleasure, and have several musical instruments, boxes of sheet music, and a lot of musical equipment.

Whatever your loved one’s hobbies and interests were, their personal belongings are part of their identity. Because of that, deciding what to do with their personal possessions can be a very emotional and taxing endeavor, with a lot of indecision about what to get rid of and what to keep.

You may have, as some people do after the death of a loved one, the urge to get rid of everything that reminds you of your loved one. On the other hand, you may find that you can’t even think about getting rid of anything that belonged to your loved one.

Neither of these positions is a balanced way to move forward after your loved one’s death.

Getting rid of everything that belonged to your loved one means you have nothing left of them and you have nothing left of them to pass on to other family members when you die.

Not getting rid of any of your loved one’s personal things means that you will have things you don’t need, but that others could use, and you will have things that are in such bad shape that they are useless for you or anyone else.

The best way to downsize after your loved one dies is to enlist other family members or a couple of close friends to help you with the process. One reason is that this provides you with emotional support. Another reason is because they will be objective about things, whereas you may not be. A third reason is that it makes downsizing easier.

To start downsizing, you need to designate a staging area for downsized items. The living room or great room is usually the best room for this purpose. Divide the room into four areas with empty boxes in each area.

Label one area “Trash.” Label a second area “Keep.” Label a third area “Family.” Label the fourth area “Donate.”

Work on one room at a time and stay in that room until you’re finished. Move from one end of the house to the other and from one floor to another. This will ensure that you go through every room throughout the house, with no room overlooked.

cremation services in Phoenix, AZ

You can donate clothing, glasses, hearing aids, medical equipment, and furniture to local or international charitable organizations. Try to donate to charities that give their items to people in need rather than selling them to the general public so they get directly to the people who need them most.

For information about cremation services in Phoenix, AZ, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Simply Cremations & Funeral Arrangements is here to assist you.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Call Now Button