You may have a weekend chores checklist or a work checklist you’re constantly trying to cross off, but do you have an end-of-life checklist? It’s certainly not the first kind of checklist people may think to jot down, but it can be the most impactful, especially as our lives move quickly and anything could come our way.
An end-of-life checklist might seem dreary, but if you want to ensure you’re setting your future self and family up for peaceful success down the road, it can be essential to tackle. From assets to healthcare, an end-of-life checklist covers it all. It can go through the logical and emotional aspects of aging and getting one’s ducks in a row, so tackle the checklist at your pace, but know the good it will do for your family when the day comes.
So, here are some of the key aspects of an end-of-life checklist that everyone should follow.
Get Your End-of-Life Legal and Estate Planning Documentation in Order
The first step might seem like the most obvious. The first step is to get the essential estate planning legal documents in order, such as a will, any trusts, and powers of attorney for both finances and healthcare. These first three main documents and processes can be among the most important for solidifying a strong estate plan that supports your financial, healthcare, and investment needs.
A will goes over how your estate will be distributed after you are gone, and without one, state law dictates how assets are passed on. This covers your property, investments, money, and any other assets of importance in your life. It also lets you nominate a guardian for minor children. To go a step further and help avoid probate, a living trust can be implemented, setting terms and conditions and designating an individual to hand them out. Probate is the legal process of verifying a will, validating it, and distributing assets.
The probate process can be slow and costly. Then, powers of attorney for both finances and healthcare will ensure that your voice is still heard in those areas if you become incapacitated. The executor named in a will is the person managing the estate during probate administration and distributing assets after probate. Beneficiary designations on certain accounts can override wills and trusts, so keep named beneficiaries coordinated.
Plan For Your Future Health Care Needs
Then, it is time to go into more detail about your future healthcare wishes. You can choose to prepare advance directives. Advance directives are legal documents that will outline your medical care instructions if there comes a time you can not communicate them in the moment. These might include details such as your wishes for end-of-life care, views on life support, or your living arrangements.
Advance directives can begin with a living will, directing providers on how you wish to be treated if you cannot speak for yourself. This is your chance to outline the medical treatments you would and would not want. You could also choose someone as a durable power of attorney for healthcare, including them in your wishes and values, so they can make health care decisions and medical decisions on your behalf if you can not speak. Many people prepare two documents together: a living will and a healthcare proxy or healthcare power of attorney. It is also wise to name successor agents in case your first choice cannot serve. Share these wishes with family members, since the right choices depend on individual circumstances.
This is also your chance to decide what you would want in possible future living arrangements. With multiple options such as independent living arrangements, assisted living, nursing homes, and memory care facilities, there are many to choose from, depending on your comfort level and health. You can write options for all and outline exactly what you want or need from future living arrangements.
Have a Focus on Financials and Assets
As with a healthcare power of attorney, it can also be wise to appoint a financial power of attorney. This is your opportunity to choose a trusted individual to manage bank accounts, pay bills, or handle taxes if you can not. They can also help with financial decisions and broader financial affairs, while being knowledgeable about your financial wishes and helping ensure they are carried out if you cannot communicate them yourself.
Review beneficiary designations regularly, since named beneficiaries on retirement accounts and insurance policies often receive those assets directly.
During this stage, you want to take inventory of all your assets and liabilities. This means creating a comprehensive list of all bank accounts, debts, real estate, investments (tangible and intangible), and other assets that you wish to be distributed appropriately. With this list, you can then develop a stronger will and trust, ensuring that nothing is missing, helping manage assets, and making it easier to transfer assets so your family has an answer for every asset under your name. A revocable trust, especially a revocable living trust, only works as intended when property is properly retitled into it.
It is also important to include digital assets as they are just as significant as physical assets. In our digital age, digital assets have become common but easy to forget when estate planning. You don’t want to forget any online investments, such as Bitcoin or other digital currencies. You will also want to include any online social media accounts and logins, along with details on what you want to happen to those accounts and their content. Any digital photos or videos should also be accounted for. Your online assets can be just as impactful.
Give the Proper Permissions and Review Beneficiary Designations
If the proper permissions are not granted over things like talking to doctors, lawyers, or affiliated companies, it can make things more challenging to distribute and support later on. In addition, this is your opportunity to grant trusted individuals in your life permission to access accounts, assets, or personal information, especially if they are listed as a trustee or beneficiary, and to review any other legal documents that may be needed for your particular situation.
There is also the scenario where you have a caregiver supporting you in your life. It can become important to give your caregiver proper permission to talk with your doctors, lawyers, bank, insurance provider, or credit card company so they can help communicate for you. With these permissions granted, you can ensure you have the proper support if you are unable to speak for yourself.
Physically Organize Your Documentation and Tell Someone Else.
It is amazing to get all your ducks in a row, but you are not going to be the only person fawning at those ducks. You are setting up your plans for your family, too. So, as you start to develop wills and trusts, create itemized lists of assets, and plan for your future, remember that estate planning is a broad term covering many records beyond a will or trust, and you want to keep that information somewhere safe.
Additionally, this applies to all personal information in general. It should be organized and live in a safe location that trusted individuals in your life know about. If there is no one in your life to communicate this information to, tell the attorney you are working with. It does not matter if they are a loved one, but it matters that someone trusted knows. Family members and the surviving spouse should also know where key documents are stored.
When it comes to personal information and estate planning documents, it is wise to make multiple copies and keep them stored in a safe location, such as a safe or with your attorney.
These Documents Should Include, But Are Not Limited To:
- Birth Certificates
- Social Security Number
- Death Certificates
- Marriage Certificate
- Employment Information
- Military Information
- Names and Phone Numbers of Close Friends and Relatives
- Insurance Information
- Investment Details
- Deeds / Titles
- Tax Returns
- Mortgages
- Current Prescriptions
This is just the start.
Have Your Personal End-of-Life Wishes and Living Will Written Down
While much of an end-of-life checklist seems to be legal, there are some personal touches that go into the checklist. This has to do with you and your wishes at the end of the day. So, it is wise to decide what your true end-of-life wishes are and get them written down properly. This entails what you wish to happen to your body, such as if you want to donate your organs or not, if you want to be buried, cremated, or otherwise, and how you wish your funeral to be conducted. You still have a say in all of these details.
Through this step, you can set aside funds to go toward your funeral and dictate what those funds are for in more detail. By having all of this information laid out already, you can save your family stress later on, as they won’t have to worry about fulfilling your wishes. If you already have a plan, they can ensure you are sent off properly.
Connect With an Attorney
The most important step to an end-of-life checklist is not going about it alone. It is a very daunting, overwhelming, and macabre topic. It’s understandably difficult to face, especially when there are so many legalities that go into it as well. Fortunately, there are no rules stating that you have to go through this process alone. The best thing you can do for yourself is partner with an estate planner, elder law, and probate attorney, since probate is a court supervised process handled through probate court and overseen by a probate judge. The process often begins within 10 to 30 days after death, and creditors generally have six months after notice to assert claims.
An attorney can sympathize with you, having a true understanding of the challenges of end-of-life planning while also understanding the legal standpoints front and back. An attorney can be there for you to ensure your plans are legally sound and effectively portray your wishes. An estate planning attorney can keep all your legal documents in order while ensuring that you come back frequently to update them as your life changes and evolves.
Overall, while it may not be the most appealing checklist, an end-of-life checklist is absolutely essential. Fortunately, you don’t need to go about it alone. Alongside an attorney, you can develop a fully fleshed-out end-of-life checklist and estate plan. If you want to start the estate planning process, contact the team at Janssen Estate Probate & Elder Law.