Make Plans

Legalities: Documents & People Involved 

• Last Will and Testament, signed and witnessed

• Enduring Power of Attorney (Health/Financial)

• An Executor, or qualified person to ensure your wishes are carried out

• Advance Health Care Directive (medical care preferences for doctors and relatives/close friends, Voluntary Assisted Dying)

• Life/funeral insurance

• Proof of registration of Organ Donation - register at Donate Life  

• Birth, Marriage, Divorce, Death certificates

 

Also, there are non-legal documents

• Emotional Will (to convey your personal thoughts, feelings, wishes, misunderstandings and lessons in life, private videos or letters to loved ones).  The Groundswell Project Australia has more information on what is an Emotional Will. 

• Do you want to make a family tree, tell your life story, reveal any information on hidden treasures?

• Your Wishes on disposal of your body. Do you want to die at home? Hospital? Hospice? Palliative Care? Other?

Important Points To Consider & Record

• Who will become the guardian of your children? Your pets? 

• List of the people you do/do not want to be told about your death

• Extra keys for your house/car 

• Write out your obituary (or not)

• If you plan on having a tombstone, provide instructions on what should be written on it

• List all passwords (Internet, computer, phone, social media such as Facebook), bank accounts, hidden treasures, investments, superannuation, etc.

• Have conversations with family and friends about your arrangements

• Designate your treasured family items, photos, heirlooms etc. before you die

• Declutter your space when you fit and able to

• Voluntary Assisted Dying for the law in each state in Australia. Go Gentle Australia site provides more information.  

• If you want to be cremated, write down your preferences for where to scatter ashes, e.g. ocean, water, base of tree, garden, mountains and find out if permits are required from councils in relevant areas

• Do you want the services of a Death Doula, someone who takes you every step of the way.  Your Life Choices explains what is a death doula. 

• Leave all necessary information in a marked folder/filing cabinet and inform at least one person as to how to access. 

 

Have you thought about your preferred housing arrangements at the end of your life?            

• Moving to live with family

• At home with home care visits

• At home with a live-in nurse

• Palliative care

• Hospice

• Somewhere else

 

What is the difference betweeen Palliative care and Hospice?

The main difference between palliative care and a hospice is that a hospice does not provide primary care. In a hospital palliative care setting, the doctors, nurses, and health care professionals provide care. In hospice care, one of the family members or friends are the primary caregivers. 

Near to the End

It may seem a little morbid to plan your own funeral, but you are the best person to make the choices on how it unfolds: who you were and what you have loved in life.

 

Your funeral is about you! 

• What do I want done with my body?

• Who will organize it all?

• What are my beliefs about what might happen afterwards?

• Do I want to talk to a religious/spiritual specialist?

• Is it expensive?

• Do I want to do it differently?

 

Choices for Disposal of the Body 
Our society is becoming more environmentally aware and as there are increasingly limited spaces in cemeteries, more people are seeking out alternatives. Many people believe that natural burials are less harmful to the environment than cremation.
There are sustainable choices 

• Standard Burials

• Cremations    

• Natural Burials

• Coffins (cardboard, pine, wicker, caskets) shroud, home-made coffin

 

Choices for a Funeral Service 

• A traditional religious service

• Plan your own Funeral 

• Memorial service. If so, where? (a chapel, at home, hire a hall or hospitality venue, or have it next to a river, at a beach. A designated council park is possible but there may be regulations.)

• Funeral Celebrant and/or Spiritual advisor

• Do you want to donate to charity in lieu of flowers for your funeral?

• Do you want to write your own eulogy?

• What to do with the ashes if cremated?

• All your decisions, information and documents need to be bundled together in a 'When I Die' document/file, in a safe but accessible place.  You also need to tell either your family or a trusted close friend how they can access the document/file.