Remember the fights you used to have with your brother over who got the last Ring Ding? (Okay, maybe that was only me).
I’m an independent woman, an elder lawyer, no less. Yet, when it comes to making decisions about my Mom, I turn first to my brother. After all, my Mom is his Mom, and I don’t want to totally take charge, although it would be easy to do so. But mostly I like having someone to share the burden with. Although I help families make decisions about their aging parents, when it comes to mine, I lean on family.
But what happens when you never got over that sibling rivalry? Or when you honestly just disagree about how your parents should be cared for?
This article offers one solution—elder mediation. A mediator may well be able to help siblings struggling with how to care for elderly parents and how to pay for that care. Many elder lawyers are equipped to help work through solutions, but there are mediators in New York who specialize in elder problems.