Interview with Cathy Rissler, Total Estate
Solutions

When a loved one dies, disposing of his or her personal property can be a tedious yet emotional task. Between the legal issues of selling an estate and the matters of sorting through personal belongings, families are usually left feeling exhausted, frustrated and drained. That is where Total Estate Solutions steps in to help. This company prides itself on helping families deal with the death of a loved one by helping them with those daunting responsibilities.

Cathy Rissler

Cathy Rissler, president of [www.totalestatesolutions.com Total Estate Solutions in Atlanta, Georgia, took some time out of her busy schedule to chat with LoveToKnow Death and Dying about her business, and how her dream is to help others after the death of family member.

What is Total Estate Solutions?

"Total Estate Solutions works with estate executors, handling the details surrounding the disposition of personal property left in the estate home. When we begin a job, we first make sure that all the family mementos, photographs and estate papers are secured and given to the family. We then sort through the personal property – determining along the way what needs to be sold, donated or discarded. If an estate sale is needed, we bring in one of our estate sale company partners to handle the sale. After the sale, remaining items are donated and the home is cleaned.

"We have resources available to handle whatever our clients may need. We can ship items to heirs, organize paperwork, obtain appraisals on valuable items, sell cars, arrange routine yard care until the house is sold, work with auction houses to sell valuable collections; the list goes on."

Why did you start this business?

"Several years ago, my father became ill and we needed to place him in a nursing home. My brothers and sisters all met at our childhood home to clean it out and get it on the market. After many weekends spent cleaning out the house, spending untold amounts of money on traveling, hotels and meals, I thought that a service that could have done all this work for us would have been invaluable. When I began to research if such help was available, I could not find anything. I wanted someone to come in and manage the entire process; allowing us to go home and get back to our own lives."

What can you offer families who have lost a loved one?

"We offer one point of contact to manage the process until the house is ready to be sold. Our clients have time to focus on more important things; getting back to families and work, perhaps their time is better spent on handling their legal and financial responsibilities within the estate settlement. We give our clients assurance that what they want done is done to their wishes and we give our clients confidence, knowing that things are being taken care of in their best interest.

"On an emotional level we like to believe we save families a lot of headaches and heartaches of going through a loved one’s home."

Are your services available in different parts of the United States?

"We are willing to travel. To date, we have not done any jobs outside of the Atlanta area."

What type of information can perspective clients find on your website?

"You can find out more about our services on our website. I have also written and posted a guide which may provide some direction to executors on their duties and responsibilities. You can find this guide, Guidelines to Settling an Estate on our resource page. Why would an individual or family contract this type of service?

"Perhaps the family or executor lives away from the estate or they may be busy with family and work and don’t have time to handle all the details that it takes to take care of everything. Many of our clients live outside of Georgia."

Are there services you offer that many people normally forget about when settling a loved one's estate?

"Many people don’t realize how much time and resources they will need when it comes to cleaning out a home. Most homes hold a lot more ‘junk” then people realize until they are knee deep into cleaning out a house. If you aren’t prepared for handling the removal of the junk the job becomes difficult to work through. Years ago, our Social Security numbers could be found on our paychecks, bank statements, old drivers licenses – the list goes on. It is extremely important that these items are shredded.

"Because we have done this work so often, we can get everything done much more quickly and efficiently."

What tips can you offer families anticipating the death of a loved and would have to settle the estate? For example, a family whose mother, father or grandparent is in hospice or a nursing home?

"Everyone should have a will regardless if they are young, old, sick or well. I believe having a will is one of the kindest things you can do for your family. If you have anything “out of the ordinary” in your will take the time now to explain to your family the intentions of your will."

What type of services don't you provide?

"We haven’t been asked to perform any services that we have not been able to perform. We were asked recently if we could help the family sell a time share. Once they did some research though they determined they could get it done themselves."

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