With health at the forefront of everyone's minds, our attention naturally turns to our loved ones and how we can protect them. One thing that ties these two things together is end of life planning and legacy.
It’s clear that there’s been an increase in people writing wills and making funeral plans during the pandemic. There are still many people overlooking the importance of end of life planning, with many unsure of where or even how even they might start.
When it comes to it, you plan your estate for your loved ones more than you do yourselfHere are some areas to look at.
Protecting your loved ones
When it comes to it, you plan your estate for your loved ones more than you do yourself. In the event of your death, you want to make sure they are protected, looked after and receive everything that should rightfully be theirs.
This includes appointing a legal guardian for young children, leaving assets in your will or even ensuring that all of your assets are easily available to them.
The proliferation of digital banking over the past decade means we now have far fewer physical cards. Finding the accounts, shares, bonds and other assets that you have can be challenging, not only for your loved ones, but for the probate specialist they instruct, as well.
It is becoming an increasing problem in the industry with an estimated £70bn of unclaimed assets in the UK, alone. Effective end of life planning revolves around ensuring the proper protection of your loved ones, and in easily facilitating their access to your estate.
Open the conversation
Talking, or even thinking about death, can be overwhelming. For many, it is still very much a taboo topic, one which ends up being skirted around more often than not.
Whether we like it or not, however, death is a fact of life, and we unquestionably need to get better, as a nation, at talking about it.
Does your partner know what music you want at your funeral? Do they know what your final wishes are?
You do not want your loved ones to be worrying about making big decisions at a difficult time. You may have all of these plans in your head but if you do not share them, nobody will know.
This is a large part of why we have seen an increase in life planning platforms; they remove the element of the ‘unknown’ and help people have these, understandably, difficult conversations with loved ones.
Leave your legacy
End of life planning is all about what you want to leave behind. This does not just have to be about finances and legal formalities, of course. It can also be about the memories; about the legacy you build.
For most people, even a cursory scroll through the various social media platforms will reveal seemingly endless quantities of photos, videos and messages. This raises the question, though: is this really how you want to be remembered?
Effective planning enables you to say the things you have always wanted to, and to better control how exactly you are remembered. Platforms can let you store documents and share your final wishes, but help leave behind videos for loved ones.
Having access to these once you are gone may help those closest to you through the grieving process when they just want to hear your voice again. The benefit of these memories, recorded for posterity, are around forever, helping your legacy live on.
Peace of mind
For many people, planning for the end of life is hugely worrisome. An unorganised estate, the lack of a legacy and unshared final wishes are all aspects of the end of life which can feel chaotic and upsetting. Collecting all your plans and thoughts in one place really helps diminish this stress.
The reassurance of knowing that everything is organised, should anything happen to you, will almost certainly ease the grieving process for your loved ones, when it does.
Unfortunately, for those who face terminal illness, it is often the case that their last few weeks are occupied by the organisation of their estate and the review of legal documents.
This is limited and precious time that should be spent with loved ones, not administrative work.
This highlights the importance of early planning, of laying the foundations well in advance, so that you can prepare yourself and your loved ones, as much as possible, for what is undoubtedly the life event in which no preparation will ever be enough.
Above all, it is important to remember that estate planning is not just about the financial and legal formalities, it extends far beyond.
It is vital, both for yourself and for your nearest and dearest, that you to start having those difficult conversations, and effectively plan for your end of life.
Ian Dibb is the founder of life planning platform, Once I've Gone
