If you have an aging parent, neither of you may be too keen on the idea of a nursing home facility. Your loved one may not be able to move into your home as it is now, but what if you added a mother-in-law suite? In-law additions provide family members with their independence and adult children with better peace of mind. Learn more about the many advantages of such an addition.
Independence
Touching back on independence, your mother or father may be physically capable of taking care of him or herself and not need nursing home services. A mother-in-law addition is essentially a small house attached to an existing residence, meaning that your parent is closer than next door. Everyone has their privacy, and help, when needed, is quickly available.
Companionship
Depending on whether both your parents are still alive or if your elderly parent has a lot of local friends and family, loneliness and isolation can become issues. In-law additions make it easy for senior citizens and their adult children to see each other. Avoiding isolation can do wonders for a person’s mental, physical and emotional health, no matter the individual’s age. On the other hand, if you do not have the best relationship with your parents, having them move into an in-law suite can create a barrier between the two of you that maintain peace.
Upkeep
Not all senior citizens are capable of keeping up with common home maintenance tasks such as mowing the lawn, weeding the garden and cleaning out the gutters. Rather than offering to take care of such upkeep yourself, while completing the same task for your own home, moving your parent into an in-law suite means that you only have to complete maintenance tasks a single time. Even if you would rather pay a professional to complete home maintenance, you still only have to pay once rather than once for your house and again your parents’ house.
Talk to your aging parent(s) about in-law additions. Additionally, talk about your options with a home improvement professional.