LW needs to wait till his wife goes to work, then bring in a crew to haul all that crap out. Then he needs to sit his wife down and tell her that if she isn't okay with the place getting cleans up, she can leave. The kid stays with LW, so either she leave so her kid doesn't have to, or she stays and gets some help.

Plain and simple.

Unless, of course, LW is using her dysfunction as 1. a way to get back and her and 2. a reasons to leave her. Either way, the kid stays with him.

Good luck, Kid.

This is not a solution, as such, but a work-around or compromise.

I could not believe what I was reading when you wrote that your wife's parents had moved out of their house (read: storage warehouse) and were living in a rented apartment.

This is too crazy for words ... but it got me thinking about your situation. Until your wife comes to terms with the root causes of her hoarding, there is a 'neat' comprise, I believe, (excusing the pun) ...

Taking her parent's situation and turning it around ... your wife does not have to throw anything away (not yet at least) ... rent a lock-up (Shurguard or some other storage company) and move all the stuff out to the rental lock-up and keep on living at home.

Your wife can keep anything she wants, she doesn't have to throw anything away, BUT it goes into storage !!! This is the positive spin on her parents' solution !

Jamie Lingwood, compulsive neatnik married to a comparative minor-offender in the 'hoarding department' ;-)