What Is Involved in Getting Your Affairs in Order?
As the end of someone’s life approaches, they may face difficult decisions. What type of care do they want at the end of their life? How can they prepare for the fulfillment of their last wishes? You may have already asked yourself these questions, but it's not always easy to take final action for yourself or a loved one.
The death of a loved one is something no one wants to think about, but no one can escape. The United States has become the first industrialized nation in the world to face a real and growing aging population. In fact, the average American will live 12 to 15 years longer than their life expectancy at birth.
However, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, from March to August 2020, New York City had a record high mortality rate, reaching 311 individuals per 100,000 inhabitants.
Many people find that their family is not prepared for the passing of a loved one. If you're interested in planning for your own or a family member's future, here are some tips to help make things go as smoothly as possible.
Many people want to pass at home, but if you've ever been part of a family dealing with the death of a loved one, you know that's easier said than done. Planning for death can be difficult and somewhat uncomfortable, but it's much better to plan ahead than to be unprepared for an inevitable event
The sadness you may feel while getting all your affairs in order doesn't have to be daunting. End-of-life planning makes things easier for your family later on. Some of the things this plan may include are documents, such as living wills or health care power-of-attorney.
A will is a legal document stating your wishes regarding the care of your children — if you have any, and they are still minors — as well as the distribution of any property and assets. A will can also include your preferred funeral or memorial arrangements and a power-of-attorney to represent you if you cannot make decisions for yourself at the final stage. A will, or Last Will and Testament, is a legal document made to distribute the deceased's possessions as they fit.
A living will is very useful and important when making medical decisions. Doctors agree that this helps to choose between using a large, often uncomfortable, number of medications and/or treatments to maintain the patient's vitality or, on the other hand, increasing measures that prioritize their comfort.
A living will is signed in the presence of two witnesses; it is a document that can be modified as many times as necessary. It always adjusts to the wishes of the testator (the person who created the will), which can change over time.
POLST — Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment — are a sum of medical orders made strictly for a health professional to execute when the person cannot express their wishes, whether they are seriously ill or frail.
Planning for the end of your life involves a process of reflection, which often goes beyond thinking about it yourself in the silence of your mind, as it most likely needs to be expressed to loved ones. It is a decision that not only includes documents but real planning of how one chooses to pass and how they want their remains to be memorialized.
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