Death is always part of people’s lives. No matter how hard it is, you need to accept the fact that you’ll perish in this world and leave your loved ones on their own. Fortunately, your passing doesn’t have to be financially devastating to your family. With all the debts and other monetary obligations you’ll leave behind, you may put your family into real financial trouble if you don’t make proper preparations before your death.
Thus, to ease your mind and that of your loved ones in case you die, keep reading this article to learn what you need to prepare before your death.
Estate Planning Documents
Putting your finances in order can provide great comfort and satisfaction, especially in the event of your sudden demise. This is where the concept of estate planning comes into play.
Primarily, estate planning refers to the process of preparing the tasks involving the administration and disposal of a person’s estate upon their incapacity or death. According to Mile High Estate Planning, there are many reasons why you should have estate planning in place. But one of the important reasons is to properly prepare for the end of life.
So, if you consider estate planning as one of the best ways to navigate the end-of-life process, below are the tasks to consider from the get-go:
- Power of Attorney – It’s a document giving another person the right to act or represent on your behalf after you pass. The person you named in the POA should be someone you trust since they’ll be responsible of all your legal and financial concerns upon your death.
- Living Will – It’s a written document outlining your wishes regarding your medical treatment in the event you’re unable to communicate them. For instance, your living will may include provisions about tube feeding, resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, and palliative care.
- Last Will And Testament – It’s an official document detailing the fate of all your assets and properties after your death, naming a particular person who’ll be responsible for carrying out the wishes as indicated in the document. Generally, having a Will can help make your life easier as it guarantees no confusion about the asset allocation and distribution upon your demise.
Assets, Bills, And Debts
With the role of estate planning in every end-of-life process, there’s no doubt why it’s important to have one for yourself. But aside from estate planning, there are also important financial affairs that need to be organized before you pass away. These can include all your income sources and other assets such as your home and other real properties, life insurance policies, and retirement plans as well as copies of your monthly bills and other outstanding debts. Sometimes, these assets and other financial affairs are overlooked, especially if your family doesn’t realize that they exist at all.
Because of this, it’s essential that you organize all of these things in a master file so they can be easily located even after your passing. With these documents in place, anyone designated to administer your financial affairs will be able to handle them properly.
For example, if your assets, including the retirement plans and insurance policies, will remain unclaimed, the State will become the beneficiary, leaving your family with nothing. To avoid this from happening, be sure to organize all your financial documents as early as you can.
Funds To Pay The Funeral Costs
Regardless of whether your buried or cremated, the average costs of a funeral nowadays are costly. Thus, if you haven’t prepared for these expenses beforehand, you may leave your loved ones in financial distress since they’ll be thinking how they’re going to cover your funeral.
To make sure that won’t happen, it’s best to set aside funding to pay for funeral costs and try to be more specific about the details to avoid conflicts. For example, you can buy a life insurance or other related insurance options ahead of time that are intended to shoulder all the funeral costs upon your death. That way, you can save your loved ones a lot of stress after your passing.
Conclusion
With the information mentioned above, it’s clear how important it is to prepare for your death ahead of time. This won’t only give yourself peace of mind but this will also make sure your surviving loved ones don’t need to worry about their financial future even after you leave the world.
Therefore, if you want to ensure everything runs smoothly, keep these things in mind so you’ll know where and how to navigate your end-of-life preparation.
If you need help in dealing with this process, you may consider hiring an estate planning attorney as they can certainly help explain the best options for your needs.
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