Mary Alexander: Hi! I am Mary Alexander from Home Instead Senior Care and today I am going to introduce you to the 50-50 Rule. I'll also provide you with some information and tips on how to help you and your siblings overcome family conflict while caring for your aging parents.

Sharing isn't always easy for brothers and sisters. Many of you may remember when you were growing up, the challenge of divvying up toys, bedrooms, and the family car. Even sharing household chores may have led to family conflict.

The research found that in 43 percent of U.

S. families, one sibling has the responsibility for providing the most care, and in only 2 percent of families did the siblings split the caregiving responsibilities evenly. We all know how busy lives can get and staying in touch even with siblings who live in the same community can be difficult a times. However, not having regular communication with our brothers and sisters can lead to miscommunication and hard feelings, making it even more difficult to have candid discussions about what is happening with our aging parents.

According to Dr. Ingrid Connidis, a sibling relationship expert from the University of Western Ontario, caregiving can either bring families together or cause trouble. In some cases it can do both. These issues can be very emotional. So to help, in this video series we're going to provide you with information, ideas and resources to avoid sibling conflict while caregiving. We will discuss the 50-50 Rule, which refers to the average age when siblings are caring for their parents, as well as the need for brothers and sisters to equitably share the care planning; hence, 50-50.

We will provide those hot button topics that can often cause highly emotional discussions, give you important checklist to help siblings work and make decisions together, and finally, some expert recommendations and resources.

Home Instead Senior Care, the national leader in providing home care services for seniors is bringing you this video series to help you and your siblings help your senior loved ones. Helping seniors is something Home Instead has been doing passionately now for more than 15 years. I'm not only work for Home Instead Senior Care, but I'm a certified Senior Adviser. More importantly, I'm currently a long-distance caregiver for my dad, and I spent several months caring for my mom locally. I've learned a lot working with my siblings, to how to take care of our parents. So let's get started!