What’s The Right Time to Start Planning for After-Life Care?
No matter how difficult and overwhelming it may be, the end of life is one of the most important conversations of your life. In fact, you and your loved ones may try to avoid talking about it. However, the truth is that it is a crucial discussion, which is why you must begin planning for the end of life, including after-life care, as soon as possible.
End of Life and After-Life Planning
End-of-life planning is when you make your wishes about what should happen when you are reaching the last phases of your life. After-life planning is when you plan how your body should be cared for and memorialized once you leave this world.
Although these decisions may seem tough at the time, consider the alternative. Once you have reached your end of life, your loved ones will be left with making the extremely difficult and painful decisions of how to divide your estate and how to give you a proper farewell without fully knowing if that is what you wished for.
As such, after-life planning should be considered a last farewell gift to your loved ones. You may even feel a sense of peace once you have taken care of these affairs.
What Should End-of-Life Planning Include?
In order to have peace of mind for your future and your family’s future, your end-of-life planning should include these basic things.
Preparing Your Documents
It can be very overwhelming to gather various documents in preparation for your end of life. However, once you get going, you will see that the process isn’t too complicated. Here are some of the documents that you will need to do this.
Living Will: This document ensures all your healthcare wishes will be followed in case you fall ill and cannot express them on your own.
Living Trust: This document manages your estate while you live and once you pass away.
Last Will and Testament: This document details how your assets should be handled and what will happen to your dependents once you pass away.
Organ Donor Designation: if you would like to donate any organs or tissues upon your death, this document will ensure that.
Estate Planning
Your assets will be passed down to your beneficiaries once you are laid to rest. Your list of assets and properties may vary, depending on how much wealth you have accumulated in your life. Your estate plan may include your checking and current accounts; cash treasury bills and certificates of deposit; real estate and land; stocks, bonds, and other investments; pensions and retirement plans; life insurance policies; corporate assets; and any jewelry, arts, and collectibles.
Deciding Between Having a Will of Trust
Trusts are effective tools for protecting the heir’s legacy and offering privacy. When an estate is held in trust, it eliminates the expensive and inconvenient probate process.
However, if you are not ready to create trust, you can always make a will. Creating a will is a safe and affordable way to express your wishes to your heirs, name your guardians, and state how you want to pass down your assets. Also, it allows you to easily scale up to a trust.
A trust, however, will give you more control over how you want your wealth to be distributed. It will also protect your estate from litigation.
After-life Care Arrangements
Though it might seem quite morbid to you, planning your cremation or funeral is one of the most helpful things you can do for your loved ones. After all, it would be very hard for your family to decide on how to arrange for your after-life care when they are mourning your loss.
However, an after-life arrangement can ease the burden placed on your loved ones’ shoulders. Depending on your wishes, you can plan for any type of funeral, including a traditional service, viewing and a wake, memorial, celebration of life, cremation, graveyard service, scattering of the ashes, and burial at sea.
Why is End-of-Life Planning Important?
End-of-life planning is important if you want to be certain that your wishes will be followed through. In fact, end-of-life planning has more to do with your loved ones than with you.
When you are nearing the end of your life, your loved ones must make extremely hard decisions while coping with grief. Many family members will also have widely different opinions of what you would have wanted and what would be in the entire family’s best interest once you have passed.
Preparing for the end means your family will relieve the heavy burden of protecting your assets and memorializing you. In addition, it will provide a semblance of control to the situation once you have passed away and your family is dealing with your loss.
Plan Your After-Life Care with Maine Cremation Care
After-life care planning can be difficult for any individual. Still, it is crucial to discuss your concerns, express your wishes, share your love, and support your family during one of the most challenging times of their life.
At Maine Cremation Care, we can help you plan for after-life care with affordable cremation services. We offer cost-effective and transparent pricing and can help realize your last wishes. Contact us today for personal assistance with our offerings and options.
