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My parents have been in the same house for over 30 years, but my inlaws recently moved out of their family home. DH did not help with the move since we live a flight away.

I went through my own stuff to sort it and take away things I wanted to keep, with the understanding that almost everything I didn't take was going to get tossed.

DH did a tiny bit of that in his parents' house, but for the most part his mom is doing 99% of the work - and also I think is willing to keep/haul some of his childhood stuff.

Neither DH nor I did anything to help with our parents' moves outside of our own childhood belongings. But we live across the country. No idea if we might have helped out a little bit if we were closer.

The first time we moved, we were dating and DH helped me with my stuff and he was there on the day to help.

The 2nd time, I was already married and out of the house, my parents did it on their own.

I think DH helped his parents a bit when they divorced (they sold their shared home and both bought new homes). But I think he really only moved some of his own stuff.

Since then, FIL moved once more and MIL moved 2 more times, and I don't think we've ever helped, although we've offered.

I have a ton of stuff in my parents home, it's kind of like my external storage unit, so when the time comes, I'll need to at least go through some stuff and make decisions.

I just helped my parents move. Basically, my mom is moving boxes they've been moving since childhood and my dad is doing tons of work, plus my sister was helping out too. I did as much as I could at 27 weeks pregnant.

I don't know what my ILs would be like. They've never moved and I doubt they will.

Long before she downsized, my parents had made sure we had all our own stuff out of the house. Pretty much as soon as we had homes of our own, they'd start presenting us with boxes/bags anytime we visited.

When my mom downsized, she did a lot of the work herself. I did help quite a bit partly because I was the only child without kids, and partly because I'm really good at helping her part with things she doesn't need to keep (asking questions like "Did you even know you had this? When was the last time you used it?")

And I enjoy packing, so it was fun for me.

DH hasn't dealt with parents downsizing, but he did deal with his father passing away. He and his sister did most of the work (there's four children). But he and his sister always do most of the work in their family, so it was expected/accepted.

My mum sold my childhood home a couple of years back. I helped her with everything - including identifying/viewing potential new places, getting the old house market ready and packing up her possessions - and was there on move day to ferry her about and help her unpack. I had moved out 15yrs earlier and so there was nothing of mine to sort through, but my mum is pretty helpless really. I had a young baby at the time and it was tough, but she did need the help.

They showed up at my house with a carload of my childhood stuff. That's been the extent of my involvement. No involvement with ILs move.

My husband helped MIL move from the home she raised her kids in to her first new place after her divorce. He provided the muscle for moving boxes and the heavy lifting, but she had everything already packed. MIL could not afford movers, so it was a DIY effort.

I voted yes. We did everything, but we also bought the house ((substantial gift of equity). Although even if that were not the case we would've had to do it anyway.

My mother asked us...did we want everything (in which case she would box it up) that was left, we had all moved out when she sold our childhood home. If we did not want it all she left it all in one spot - provided packing supplies and offered to donate what we didnt want. She made it very easy on us. She had some items she wanted to keep even if we decided not to save them - so she was involved even if we did the packing.

DH's mother has given her kids none of their stuff. She has hoarding tendencies and I dread the day we have to pack their house. That said - if she is around at that point she will do it all her self and not allow anyone to help (classic hoarder - very attached to her things and needs to be in control at all times).