My name is Arnie Brownstein and the following is the true story of how my life found new meaning BECAUSE, not in spite of, the economy’s decline.

 

After 30 years working as a successful general contractor and a banker, my bank, like so many others, was abruptly closed down by the government. I was faced with a crisis in several new and unfamiliar ways: earning a living for my family and finding a meaningful purpose well before I wanted to, or planned to, retire. It was a frightening time, filled with stress and fear.

 

Coincidentally (and: as it turns out, luckily) both my mother and my mother-in-law were facing that difficult time in their lives in which their big houses were too much to handle on their own. Their lives were about to change drastically as they prepared to leave the homes that they loved following the deaths of both of their husbands (my father and father-in-law, both). But because of the unusual circumstance, I was available to help. And I quickly realized just how much had to be done and just how overwhelming it was for them both to even contemplate doing all of this on their own. Both were relocating to Independent Living facilities and the list of things to be done was truly remarkable.

 

First we had to find the right living facility for each one as their different financial and social situations made these two decisions very unique. We also had to get their homes sold, and then begin to handle all the details that started to quickly mount. Change of address forms, banking moves, cable TV, renovations, negotiations with moving companies. My family and I quickly commented that, had I not been recently unemployed, both women would be doing this on their own….and we had no idea how that could have happened.

 

It all came naturally to me and, surprisingly I loved it. I loved the organization, the negotiations, the thinking ahead, the pride of helping them when they clearly were frightened and insecure in the tasks.

 

One day, while sitting in the sales director’s office of one of the facilities, my sister-in-law, Claudia, had an epiphany. She looked at me and said, "This is what you do best. You’re ‘The Son You Wish You Had’ for people who need you.” And so my next venture was started and Family Relocation Consultants, LLC (FRC) was born in May of 2010.

 

FRC specializes in helping older adults and their families downsize from larger homes to smaller ones, usually into independent or assisted living facilities. What makes FRC so unique is that we’ve developed a complete turnkey handling of all of these transitions, “from soup to nuts”, including such details as: packing and unpacking, consolidation, negotiating with moving companies, contacting all utilities, doctors and government agencies about the move. We also handle real estate or leases for our clients to make all aspects of the move easier. We oversee the clean-up or renovation of the home, in preparation for sale, as well as set the seller up with the real estate agent.

 

Two wonderful years have passed and the success was rapid and overwhelming. Clearly the need was there! And I never let a day go by without remembering my start.

 

I soon realized that our clients, in the natural course of life, started to pass away. Family members from in and out-of-state began calling us to see if we could help close-out their loved one’s affairs. A whole new aspect of the business began to emerge.

 

My dream of helping families in their time of need when the inevitable occurs was my next venture. It became a natural extension of FRC’s services.

 

Family Transition Services, a DBA of its parent company Family Relocation Consultants, LLC was formed. Along with my associate Gary Zimmerman, we began to realize the same long list of items that had to be dealt with upon a loved one’s demise. Similarly, it was overwhelming and painful to our clients.

 

We found that Identity theft is so rampant, that safely and securely closing the loved one’s affairs became number one on our list. We have devised a method to accomplish this task as soon as our services are secured and death certificates are ordered.

 

In this world of automation and stolen identity, it becomes even more important that accounts be closed, proper agencies be notified, etc. “We facilitate and close the affairs of a loved one, pre and post death”. This mounting work led us to launch this separate division, strictly to help families finalize their loved one’s affairs. We handle all items in the same “turnkey” manner as we do in out relocation division. Cleaning out the property, arranging for repairs and sale … whatever is necessary – we will take care of it – safely, swiftly and with compassion.

 

The time to act in regard to your loved one’s affairs should be before death, when your head is clear and discussions can be facilitated.