Most people don’t consider anything about planning for incapacity or death to be joyful. However, if you consider estate planning documents as a way to share your wishes and make your departure easier for those you love, as well as a means to express your thoughts and feelings, it could make these tasks a little easier and establish a legacy for your loved ones. A recent article from The Washington Post, “6 joyful steps for end-of-life planning,” could help reframe how you think of estate planning.

From a practical standpoint, death and incapacity are complicated for loved ones. There is always an emotional toll which renders loved ones less capable than they typically would be in dealing with post-death tasks.  Preplanning through your estate plan will help ease their burden.

They will appreciate your preparing medical powers of attorney or similar documents which should be created when a person is healthy, and not when they are in a hospital bed. The same goes for funeral arrangements, which are costly. There are so many choices and decisions to make—do your loved ones even know what you want? Leaving instructions in an appointment for the disposition of remains and maybe even prepaying services will remove the burden for loved ones to know what you wanted and dealing with the expense of paying for it.

Digging through a loved one’s credit card bills, cellphone accounts, bank accounts and internet passwords is a big challenge in today’s digital world. It was far easier when there were stacks of paper for every account. Today’s fiduciaries need to have access to more information to avoid lost assets, avoid identity theft and prevent roadblocks to wrapping up your estate.

Here’s a checklist to help get your estate plan moving forward.

1 Estate Planning Notebook. The author of the article called this a crisis planning binder.  We actually give our clients one binder with all the estate planning documents to make it easier for loved ones. You should make additional copies, but keep originals in one place—and tell your fiduciaries where the originals and binder can be found.  You can also include information in the binder to facilitate gathering assets and administering your estate, such as information on bank accounts, contact information for professionals you’ve worked with, information on assets, debts, contracts, the above-referenced final internment instructions and more.

Please see Mary’s article here for more ideas on what to include in the binder:  https://galligan-law.com/not-a-little-black-book-but-a-big-blue-estate-planning-binder/

2 Have a medical power of attorney created while you are having your estate plan made. This tells your loved ones what you want in case of incapacity and end-of-life decisions and isn’t typically what people think about in an estate plan.  Appointing a person to act for you in these situations and communicating these wishes will greatly ease their burden.

3 Have an estate plan created with an experienced estate planning attorney. Without an estate plan, the laws of your state determine how your property is distributed.  Most people mistakenly assume that the law will quickly and easily let property pass to their loved ones, but that is often not the case, or worse, they make bad assumptions about which loved ones inherit.

Estate plans are also state-specific, so a local estate planning attorney is your best resource. Be wary of online documents—if they are deemed invalid, or even worse, valid but terrible, you will have greatly increased the cost, time and energy of your estate administration, and may still not get what you wanted.

4 Make a digital estate plan. No doubt you have more than one email account, shopping accounts with more than a few retailers, credit cards, car leases or loans, home mortgage payments, social media, cloud storage, gaming accounts and more. Without a complete and comprehensive list of all accounts, your executor won’t know what needs to be closed, where your personal documents or photos live or how to retrieve them.

5 Plan your Final Internment. This isn’t always easy for a person to do, but if you find it difficult, imagine how your loved ones will feel.  Even if you don’t prearrange, many states, Texas included, provide the power to name a person to execute your wishes for final internment and to describe those wishes.  This is often called an appointment for the disposition of remains. You’ll feel better knowing your wishes will be followed, whether it’s for a “green” funeral or a cremation, with a long period of mourning following your faith’s tradition or a short memorial service.

6 Write a letter of intent and any final farewells. This is an opportunity to share your thoughts with those you love, with healthcare providers and anyone else who matters to you, about healthcare decisions at end of life, or to convey your values, hopes and dreams for those you love.  This is similar to the “ethical will” and leaves the legacy of your values to your loved ones.

When these issues are complete, you’ll be surprised at the sense of relief you feel.

Reference: The Washington Post (Jan. 5, 2023) “6 joyful steps for end-of-life planning”