End of Life Planning

I’ve been to three funerals this winter. No one thinks it will happen to them, but it happens to all of us. Here is a list of things to think about, assemble and discuss with your loved ones for your end of life planning.
Key Steps and Helpful Resources:
 Do you have a lawyer, will, executor(s) or administrator for your estate?
 Do you have life insurance?
 Do you have financial matters in order (banks, accountants, pensions)?
 Do you have funeral arrangements including planned details and wishes?
 Do you have a location/file for all important information/documents for executor duties?
 A letter of goodbye to loved ones
 Have a Funeral Planning Checklist
Make a list of
 Banking Institutions:
 Automatic Payments (i.e. bills, loans, monthly charitable donations, etc.)
 Loans, Debts, Lines of Credit
 Safety Deposit Box
 Military service records
 Mortgage/Mortgage Insurance
 Credit Cards
 Investments, RRSPs
 Pension Plan Administrator
 Accountant
 Financial Planner
 Insurance coverage policies
 Keys, gate or safe codes (and locations), garage door openers.
Make a copy of personal identification for your family to locate, change or cancel:
 Driver’s License
 Birth certificate
 Social Insurance
 Marriage certificate
 Roadside Assistance (i.e. CAA)
 Employee ID, access or credit cards, etc.
 Membership Cards
 Passport
 Magazine and other subscriptions
 Memberships
 Registrations with professional associations
 Season tickets
 Monthly charitable donations
 Library card
 Customer reward programs (Air Miles, Credit Cards Travel Points, etc.)
 Pet licenses
Technology
 Computer/Tablets
 Cloud Storage, Photographs
 On-line shopping accounts
 On-line Memberships/Subscriptions
 Twitter/Facebook/Instagram, etc.
 Website
 Email Accounts
 Passwords and PIN Codes to All Accounts
Contact Health Care Or Service Providers:
 Physician(s)
 Dentist
 Optometrist
 Pharmacist
 Counsellors
 Other i.e., Physiotherapist, Massage Therapist, Occupational Therapist, etc.
 Home care
 Hairstylist or Esthetician
Household Services and contracts:
 Survey and deed to home
 Landlord notice for rental situation
 Water Heater Rental
 Lawn Care, Snow Removal etc.
 Housekeeping
 Security System
 Furnace/Air Conditioning
 Cable TV
 Other provider (cell phone/e-mail/internet/landline etc.)
 Water/Sewer
 House Insurance/Tenant Package Policy
 Property Taxes
 Dependent Children (custody issues, maintenance support)
 Dependent adults (parents, guardianship)
 Pets
 Executor, Power of Attorney, Proxy Decision Maker for others
 Volunteer roles including sitting on Boards, Committees, Charities etc.
Keep this list in a secure place.

For your funeral decide what you’d like, write it down and notify your loved ones and at lease two emergency contacts.
 Burial, cremation, green burial, or organ donor (ending in cremation)
 Visitation, viewing, wake, or rosary
 Private family viewing or public viewing?
 Wake at home or a visitation at the funeral home?
 Celebration of life service personalized to reflect your life
 Traditional funeral service
 Do you want your body present or not?
 Do you want the casket open or closed?
 Graveside or memorial service after burial or cremation
 Home funeral service and/or burial
… Green or eco-friendly funeral service
… Scattering ceremony
… Family gathering
… Reception or fellowship meal
… Location for the service such as funeral home. park, golf course, lake, garden, beach, ev r, art gallery, church, stadium or cottage.
… Speaker such as a clergy member or funeral celebrant
… Pallbearers, eulogist, assistants, and attendees
… Catered or pot luck meal
… Prayers, poems, or other readings
… Songs, hymns, live or recorded
… Memorial video set to special music
… Memorial, monument, or virtual memorials, such as a grave marker, headstone, video tribute, or online memorial website
 Memorial contributions to charity organizations
 Final resting place such as Burial in a private cemetery, veterans cemetery, or scattering of ashes at sea, in a park, on private property
 Gifts for loved ones
 You may want to contact a funeral home to keep track of your wishes and prepay for services.