In the class that implements the parser element for a given tag I include a
reference to the parent parser element object. So if <address> is a valid
subtag for both <person> and <organization>, then the AddressHandler has an
instance variable (inherited from AbstractHandler) called "encloser" or
"parent" or similar that points, respectively, to the current enclosing
PersonHandler or OrganizationHandler.

The parsing loop will retrieve a handler for the current tag during
startElement() (typically using a Map< String, Class<AbstractHandler>>) and
set its "parent" instance variable to the (erstwhile) current AbstractHandler
before pointing currentHandler at the new one. At endElement() you emit
whatever the element has, point the currentHandler to the parent object and
let the (erstwhile) current handler become eligible for GC.

It's a linked list!

By the way, spelling counts. Or does your SAX parser actually have
StartElement() and EndElement() methods? I don't think so. For one thing, if
it did it would not be compatible with Sun's (or Apache's) parser interfaces,
nor the Sun naming conventions.

-- Lew