Peace of Mind Planning

What happens when you take your mom into the hospital for a routine outpatient procedure and 24 hours later she is deceased?  No warning, no planning, never a thought in your mind that this could ever happen.  Being in total shock and dismay you enter the funeral home to make arrangements.  You select everything you feel your mom would want and deserved, because, of course, you want to give her the very best.  Then when all the planning is done the funeral director hands you a bill for $12,374.98 and says will that be cash, check or charge?   This is just one of a many stories I can tell you about when it comes to loosing family members which is why a group of women, working with the Stephen Ministry, came up with this website.

This site is here only to provide guidance.  We are not lawyers nor do we have the legal knowledge to tell you what to do.  All we can do is take our knowledge and provide you with some guiding documents to help get you started.  We highly recommend every individual meet with  family members and potentially an attorney to have a formal estate plan created, plus a living will, a trust or whatever suits you and your family best.  

Here are a couple recommendations: 

• Take your time completing these documents / put lots of love and thought into them
• Keep all of this information in one location, maybe a binder or folder
• Ask family member to help you complete these documents
• Make sure someone you love and trust know where to find these documents or give a copy to your attorney to hold onto for you.

Documents:

End of Life Information – This document will guide you through some of the basic questions your family members may have immediately following your passing, such as funeral arrangements, obituary, notifications and more.  Collecting this information ahead of time will allow your family to grieve your passing in lieu of stressing about what they feel your expectations would be.Information Collection – This document will guide you through all the personal information your family member will need to take care of your estate.  This will include very personal information, so make sure to keep this in a secure location and only provide copies to trusted family members and or your attorney.

Sharing Family Stories – This is meant to be fun.  This is taking your past and sharing it with generations to come.  Don’t be overwhelmed with the length of the document.  I would recommend selecting your favorite subjects and either writing your stories or even video taping them.  A fun activity might be to have a grandchild or friend interview you.

 Writing Your Personal History – This document dives into your health history and genetics for family members in the future.  This looks into all those health questions the doctor asks about your parents and family.