“Death Admin”: The Essentials To Prepare Our Loved Ones For Our Passing (Even If It’s Decades Away!)
January 11, 2019 by ThySista
Filed under Health & Wellness, Opinion, Weekly Columns
(ThySistas.com) There are so many choices as a mother we make that, in hindsight, are big mistakes. Perhaps we think that honesty is the best policy, but we are too honest when it comes to the greater aspects of life. It’s a battle we all have to contend with, but when the topic of death comes up, it’s split firmly into two camps. There are those that embrace it, and those that completely avoid it. But, when we are faced with our mortality, either because we’re getting older, or we go through something that makes us realize we’ve got to set up our children for a better future, what is it that we need to do?
Preparing Your Estate
Whatever your age, it’s important to make a will so whatever assets you have are given to the people that deserve it. You can do this easily through any living trust law firm, but it’s important to start thinking about it now. Your estate, however little it is, can cause ructions among your family after you go. Instead of having your family go through this start thinking about it now.
Making It Easier For Our Children
We don’t want our children to be saddled with our debt, so it’s important that we start to plan and prepare ways to pay it off. In addition to this, we need to assign power of attorney as well as meet with a financial advisor and utilize our sources of income now. Your heirs will have to pay your bills for you, but you don’t want to cause them undue stress and debt.
Preparing To Bequeath Your Digital Life
This is something a lot of us don’t think about. But, if you have numerous social media accounts, especially with sensitive information that can be used after your death, there are services that can deal with this for you. But it’s also important for you to put together all the usernames and passwords you’ve used, and how you want these accounts handled. And in addition to this, you need to have a master file of all your documents. You can put these on an external hard drive for ease of access.
The Personal Stuff
Some mothers don’t talk about this stuff. But it’s important to get the conversation going if only to minimize confusion amongst family members. It’s important that you decide what you want to be done with your body after you pass away. But you also need to communicate to your loved ones that it’s a part of life, especially if you have ailing health issues and young children. It’s not an easy conversation, but there are ways and means of ensuring you deal with the issues sensitively.
It’s not just about the life admin, but it’s about preparing everyone for the inevitable, including us. As we get older, we become more aware of our mortality, and if we’ve had to deal with probate issues, or problems relating to our relatives passing, we don’t want our children to have the same issues. Call it “death admin”!
Staff Writer; Carla Wade
