Elder Mediation:  Shared Family Decision-Making

Current Highlights

Online Mediation Services continue to be available to help you during this challenging time

Elder Mediation Training
April 2024 (Online)

Conflict Resolution Skills Training
Fall 2024 (Online)

The Unequal Inheritance: It Can Work, or It Can ‘Destroy Relationships'
The New York Times

Resolving Family Disputes:  Harry Margolis Interviews Mediator and Trainer Crystal Thorpe
Ask Harry Podcast

"Strengthening Troubled Sibling Bonds to Deal With an Aging Parent"
The New York Times

"The Author Speaks: Caring for Our Aging Parents" AARP Bulletin

"Mom Always Liked You Best: A Guide for Resolving Family Feuds, Inheritance Battles & Eldercare Crises" New Book by Elder Decisions Partners

"The Ties that Blind: Elder Mediators Help Siblings Come To Peace for the Sake of Aging Parents"
Slate

Testimonial Video

Video:  Hear What Past Participants Are Saying
Elder Mediation Teaching Institute

"Should You Hire an ‘Elder Mediator’?"
SmartMoney – Encore

Video: Elder Decisions Partners Interviewed by Emily Rooney
WGBH-TV's Greater Boston

"A Referee for Family Disputes" The
Wall Street Journal


"Elder-Care Mediators Help Resolve Feuds"
The Washington Post

"Oh, Brother!  With Parents Aging, Squabbling Siblings Turn to Elder Mediation"
AARP Bulletin

"Mediators Help Families with Tough Choices of Aging" NPR Morning Edition

"The Caregivers: Sibling disputes over care"
CBS Evening News Video

"Mediators Save Caregivers' Relationships"
CBSNews.com

"Mediators Ease Decisions on Elders"
Boston Globe

"Elder Mediation: Optimizing Major Family Transitions"
Marquette Elder's Advisor Law Review

"When Aging Leads to Family Conflict"
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly

"Sibling Squabbles Over Mom?  7 Tips for Getting Along"
AARP Blog

"Mediating Elder-Care Disputes"
Wall Street Journal Online

"If Heirs Are Fighting, Try Mediation"
Wall Street Journal

"Speak for Yourself, While You Can"
The Wall Street Journal Online
 

Elder Decisions mediators Thorpe and LarsenChanges in people's needs and roles as they age can impose new stresses on elders and their loved ones. Faced with these challenges, many families seek help to develop new ways of coping with evolving relationships and changing realities.  Mediation provides an opportunity for the elder and all concerned members of the family to participate in creating a thoughtful plan for the future.

Opening Communication Among Siblings

Often as family members age, family dynamics can become more entrenched and complicated. Conflicts that may have simmered below the surface can boil up and make family conversations very difficult. Siblings, dealing with differences in their own geographic, economic and immediate family structures often find working together to help their aging parents to be challenging. Thoughtful decision making can seem all but impossible. 
 
At Elder Decisions® we are aware of the stresses and challenges posed by aging family members. Caregiver burnout and inheritance issues are common in families and require difficult conversations. Health, financial and caregiving concerns are serious issues demanding that all family members weigh in with their views. As family members seek to equitably share the burdens and resources of the family, their individual perceptions of fairness are critical.

Mediators trained in issues related to estates, eldercare and social gerontology can help facilitate family discussions about matters relating to safety, finances and capabilities while keeping in mind the senior’s desire for individual control and respect.

Elder Mediation Addresses a Wide Variety of Family Concerns

Elder Decisions® mediators help you create workable solutions to achieve smooth transitions for your family. Each family’s needs are different but issues that are often discussed include:

  • Inheritance, Estate and Trust matters
  • Residence options
  • Family communication
  • Decision making processes
  • Including the voice of the Elder
  • Family members’ roles and responsibilities
  • Caregiver burnout
  • Assistance to avoid court guardianships
  • Driving and transportation
  • Finances and bill paying
  • Personal property distribution
  • Legacy
  • Medical decisions
  • End of Life decision-making
  • Planning and anticipating issues before crises develop 

If you or someone you know could benefit from structured assistance in family decision making, contact Elder Decisions® at 617-621-7009.  One of our partners will discuss your situation with you to understand the scope of the issues and the other parties whom you think should be involved. Following this, the other identified parties will be contacted for some further discussion, basic information gathering and scheduling.

We recommend beginning the mediation process before a crisis occurs to ensure that thoughtful well-considered strategies for dealing with life transitions are put in place. Mediation can strengthen family ties and enable all family members to deal with the changing nature of their relationships in a way that provides peace of mind and leaves them with no regrets in the future.  

 
 

Elder Decisions® is a division of Agreement Resources, LLC.

Elder Decisions® has been approved to receive referrals from the Bristol, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk Divisions of the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court Department.


Photo at top of page courtesy of Neponset Valley Senior News/Rick Booth

 





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