Pretty much every client I have had thus far have been (a) female, and (b) married. For every client, the husband is not involved but expresses no objections. The first step I take with clients is to go through every thing that is in a particular area and categorize it as follows: keep, toss, move. And a pile for the husband's things (and that is as far as his stuff goes). I have not gotten any complaints or objections on this so I assume it's working. It actually had not occurred to me that hubbies might strongly OBJECT to their wives getting help....something to ask in the future during initial contact to avoid any complications.. Once again I am so glad to have this forum!!

I came across this one time with a friend of a friend who asked for my help. She was desperate to find a receipt but the office was in chaos.

The three of us agreed that she and I would organize her papers and the joint papers (household etc). His papers would be placed in a pile for him to deal with in what ever manner he wished.

By the end of the day, we had a system that they could both buy into, found the reciept and found 3 cheques to be cashed (2 of which were his!).

Hi all - I've been in business since early 2006 and I've come across this a few times. I've been in the situation early on where the wife hired me and the husband wasn't thrilled I was there. This lead to to do as Lea does and not take future business unless both husband and wife are on board with it OR the wife agrees that the husband's things are not touched.

Although I am not a therapist, I've seen enough couples to know that they need marriage counseling more than just getting organized. They say couples fight mostly about money. I would add differing organizing styles to the mix. Personally, I could not live with someone who didn't have it together.

I also think some women use it as an excuse not to spend the money at the moment. It's easier for a woman to say "My husband doesn't want me to do this" rather than say "I can't afford it".

Fortunately, I've had many great experiences helping married couples get organized and most have said I was a miracle worker and cheaper than a divorce attorney!

Hello FindItFast (I love your name!). Welcome to the forum. Hope you come by often!

Disorganization and clutter can certainly take the peace right out of the home. Everyone blames everyone else and no one gets anywhere.

While organizers are not therapists by any means, I have worked with married clients where I could organize with the husband and then with the wife and all was well. I might talk them through why they don't need something, and that discussion is fine. But, if the spouse says something like "You don't need that old thing." then an arguement breaks out. An organizer is often a good go-between.

Wow - what a great topic of discussion. I also make sure to ask my clients what the family thinks, but this thred just prompted me to change my contract requiring both signatures if married. I think that's a great idea.

Now that virtual organizing is easier than ever with digital technology, this might be a great option to offer a client in this situation. It's cheaper, their husbands may feel more at ease by receiving advice rather than feeling invaded,& they get to walk away from the experience with your expertise virtually.

Good advice Rene! Virtual or Online organizing is a terrific way to get organized.