This week, we want shed some light on a topic that doesn’t get talked about enough—end of life planning. Formulating and documenting your end of life plan will bring so much relief to your loved ones as they will know for certain that they are doing exactly as you wished. For families carrying out our end of life tasks without any prior planning, emotions can fester and disagreements can become escalated as each family member will have a different idea of how you want your affairs handled. This is a stressful time for your family—lightening the load is invaluable to their healing.
But the planning doesn’t just have to start after a life-threatening crisis occurs—you can begin making plans on how you’d like to be cared for right now.
Consider how you wish to manage pain levels using medication, sedation, or if you wish to not be given any intervention at all. This will help your family as they bring caregivers into the equation to help provide care. Even having a plan for where you would like to receive that care is important. If you wish to stay at home or have a specific assisted living facility you prefer, that can be arranged prior to you needing that level of assistance. Then, when the time comes, it’s as simple as looking at the blueprint and carrying out the plan.
When it comes to some of the more legal aspects of your end of life plan, it’s important to consult attorneys to ensure you are completing every step correctly. As we’ll discuss further down, there are so many terms, forms, documents, and processes that have to be followed according to the laws in your state. Having a professional guide you through that process will bring peace of mind that your wishes will be carried out as you wanted them, and planned for with the correct frameworks in place.
speak the language
Now, let’s dive into a few terms that you should know to begin your end of life plan.
Conservator: A person who is assigned by a court to an individual who is no longer able to make their own decisions.
Advanced Directives: A legal document that clarifies how you wish to receive medical treatment, what types of medication you do or do not want, if you wish to be resuscitated, and more.
Living Will: A legal document that states what type of care you wish to receive if you no longer can make decisions for yourself (i.e. home care or assisted living).
Durable Power of Attorney: This document delegates power to an individual to make financial decisions on your behalf if you can no longer make them.
Executor: This person is responsible for carrying out the actions that are within your will. This person should be trustworthy and have great attention to detail. If there is not a suitable party, the state can assume this responsibility on your behalf.
Guardian: This person is responsible for making decisions on your behalf if you can no longer make them.
Heirs: Parties who inherit your assets and belongs.
All of these terms can be overwhelming, but just know that each of these can be explored and decided upon over time. Make a plan of which documents or people are most critical and begin the work to establish them with your attorneys. Over the course of weeks and months, you will soon see all of these plans form and come together.
Another helpful tip is to begin gathering all of your important documents into a known and secure location. Have a trusted family member help with this so that they know where these documents are in the event that they need to find them.
One consideration that is often forgotten in end-of-life planning is having your loved ones continue paying your bills once you pass. This can become difficult as the bank may freeze the accounts and require documentation in order for someone else to access the funds. Work with your attorney and banking professional to establish a plan on how this task can be managed as seamlessly as possible.
A resource we found very helpful in this process is the 5 wishes document. This will help you to think about all of the things you wish to happen. We recommend that families start with this and then move onto more formal, legal paperwork.
This conversation is never fun to have, but it is so important that we have it. Establishing a plan for your loved ones to follow is the best gift you can give them. Don’t be overwhelmed by the process. Just start.
Feel free to email us at thecaregivenpodcast@gmail.com if you have any questions—we are always here to help!