End-of-Life Planning Checklist and Comprehensive Guide

It can be hard to know how to plan for end-of-life and sometimes, that’s the biggest stumbling block to getting started at all. To help you prepare for your plans, we’ve put together this easy-to-follow checklist.

Each item in this end-of-life planning checklist will be expanded on in greater detail below so you know how to get them done. It’s important to note that end-of-life planning is not just restricted to your funeral and burial plan. End-of-life planning should also include financial planning such as health insurance, long-term care insurance, retirement planning and budgeting, your last will and testament, living trusts and your advance directive. You might also want to consider your housing situation and quality of life decisions in your later years.

Here is an easy end-of-life planning checklist that will be covered in more detail below:

1. Gather and prepare your end-of-life planning documents
2. Create a trust or a will
3. List your assets, debts and possessions
4. End-of-life care and quality of life
5. Burial and funeral arrangements
6. Document your legacy
7. Secure your end-of-life plans in a “life file”

Gathering all of your end-of-life planning documents is a lot easier than it sounds and comes down to a quick series of decisions and legally documenting what you’ve decided. It’s important to use an end-of-life planning checklist to get these documents in order so that when the time comes, your end-of-life plans are easily accessed by those you’ve left behind.

Your will is not the only document you need to ensure your end-of-life plans are complete. Here is a handy list of all the papers and documents needed for end-of-life planning:

Contact Information

Gather together all relevant contact information that your loved ones may need in the final days of your life and afterwards. Contacts can include:

• Next of kin
• The person you have appointed as power of attorney
• Any doctors who may be treating you
• Your attorney
• Your estate planner
• The veterinarian for your pets
• You financial advisor
• Any trustees for trusts you may have set up
• Debtors
• Your boss, customers or clients
• Any groups you may have belonged to either online or in the community

When your executor or power of attorney needs to finalize plans, settle debts or needs more information, these contact details will make that job infinitely easier.

Living Trust

A living trust is a document that allows you to have control over your estate and all of your belongings from now until after you pass.

Living Will

Your wishes regarding any medical treatment and end-of-life care will be detailed in a living will. This is necessary should you be unable, for any reason, to speak for yourself while you are still alive.

Last Will and Testament

This is a legal document that outlines how you wish your property and assets will be handled after you’re gone.

Designation of Guardian and Power of Attorney

A designation of guardian is a document that appoints someone of your choice as the guardian of your children in the event you die or are incapacitated. Often, this designation is included in your last will and testament.

Additionally, a power of attorney can also be included in your will and serves to appoint a trusted friend, attorney or loved one as the person who can represent you and be your voice when you are unable to. This person will be trusted to make medical decisions on your behalf that you may not already have decided. Alternatively, you can include a POLST or a MOLST. A POLST or portable medical orders is a document that declares your decisions on various medical situations in and out of a medical setting. A MOLST, or Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment is a document outlining your wishes when it comes to life-sustaining treatment, such as CPR, intubation, artificial nutrition and more.

Password and Digital Legacy List

This should be a complete list of all important passwords that your family will need to access important accounts. For example, you may want to leave the code to unlock your phone. Passwords and login access to credit cards, banking information and social media spaces may also be necessary. There are so many passwords that can help your loved ones tie up loose ends when the time comes, and storing them in a secure document or giving them to your attorney will help.

Some passwords you may want to include:

• Social media accounts
• Paypal or other payment gateways
• Online banking/investment accounts
• Credit card account
• Crypto wallet
• Hosting/domain name accounts for any websites you might own
• eBay, Esty, Amazon and other seller accounts
• Password managers
• Email
• Health-related accounts
• Insurance
• Cloud-based accounts such as Google Drive, Dropbox and iCloud.
• Subscriptions such as FabFitFun, HelloFresh or Netflix.
• Points programs, for example, frequent flyer miles, hotel loyalty points, etc.
• Any online project collaboration accounts for work or school.

Insurance Policies

If you have life insurance, preneed insurance, burial insurance or any other forms of insurance that your family will need to know about, collect those policies as part of your end-of-life planning checklist.

Organ or Tissue Donor Preference

Record your wishes pertaining to the donation of organs on a document so there is no question that you’re a donor when the time comes. You can also register here to become an organ donor, which will then be indicated on your identification. This ensures those who can benefit from your organs will have timely access to them.

Domestic Partnership Agreements

A domestic partnership is a relationship between two people who live together as a couple but who are not legally married. A domestic partnership agreement serves as protection for each party in the relationship in the event something happens to the other person. For instance, in the event you find yourself hospitalized, a domestic partnership agreement can notify the hospital that, despite family-only visiting rules, your partner should be allowed to see you. You can also ensure that your partner is the beneficiary of your estate and anything that you technically own but that you enjoyed together. Your car and your home for example.

A trust is useful for anyone with assets that, in total, are valued at more than $160,000 and wishes to make access to their finances easier for beneficiaries after they’ve passed.

A will on the other hand encompasses decisions pertaining to more than just finances and will have to go through the probate process.

A will can be completed easily online without an attorney. A trust is also easily created online using web-based legal tools. Alternatively, you can seek the assistance of an estate planning attorney, but this route can be pricey.

Deciding between a will or a trust, or making use of both, is going to be dependent on your life situation, assets and more. However, knowing the difference between these two end-of-life planning documents is the first step.

Trusts: Defined

A trust is a method of estate transfer in which you hand over authority to a trustee so they can ensure your beneficiaries receive the assets when the time comes. This can be created and managed while you are still living and comes in handy when you have minor children for whom the assets will not be of any use until adulthood.

Wills: Defined

A will is a legal document that outlines your final wishes when it comes to the guardianship of your dependents, pets, and where and to which beneficiaries your various assets will be given. The main difference between a will and a trust is when it comes into effect. A will is triggered once you have passed while a trust can be used in life to disperse parts of your estate.

Take the time to outline your wishes when it comes to end-of-life care. If you have to change your housing situation or enter palliative care at some point in the future, what is important to you when looking for a nursing home or an assisted living facility? Would you prefer to have in-home care? It’s okay to ask to tour facilities and speak to the staff before you make any finalized decisions. Assisted living will offer you more freedom and independence while a nursing home is better suited for those who need more frequent medical care. In-home care will allow you to stay in your home while receiving the care you need.

Additionally, consider your standard for quality of life and include an advance directive package. This can include your power of attorney to appoint a trusted loved one to make your medical decisions for you in line with your wishes. You can also include your preferences with regards to medical treatments that may be invasive or unnecessarily prolong a life you’re unable to appreciate any longer. Your quality of life should be seen as just as important as your preferences for end-of-life care.

Whatever your preferences are, documenting them with an end-of-life care plan checklist will help ensure you get the care and treatment you need in an environment you prefer.

End-of-Life Housing

Consider how you feel about where you will live out your last days. Do you want to be in the home you’ve built for yourself or do you want to be in the capable care of medical professionals? If you’ve selected an assisted living facility or palliative care provider, outline this in your end-of-life planning. You might choose to have an in-home care aid or you may have an agreement with a loved one to move in and care for you. Don’t wait until you can no longer speak for yourself to try to make your wishes about these important decisions known. Include them in your end-of-life planning and provide contact information for your choices, if needed. You may also want to include information about your long-term care insurance policy.

End-of-life Medical Care

It’s important to plan for end-of-life medical care and the costs that are associated with it. You can start setting money aside for this purpose or you can look into purchasing supplemental health care insurance policies to help pay these costs. In your end-of-life plan, include any information about your health insurance or supplemental coverage you may have so that your power of attorney or health surrogate can ensure that everything is paid for and doesn’t deplete the resources in your estate. An end-of-life care plan can make transitions easier and help your loved ones respect your wishes.

Planning your own funeral and burial is an important step in your end-of-life planning. By taking the time now to decide how you would like to be remembered, you’re making sure your loved ones don’t have to do it during a stressful time when emotions are running high.

You’ll have to choose what sort of memorial experience you want loved ones to participate in, the funeral home that will serve your family, and determine what type of disposition you prefer for your body. Let’s jump into some of your choices.

Write an Obituary and Death Notice

An obituary or death notice is a write-up that sums up who you are and lets readers know you are no longer with us. An obituary serves to let the community know you have passed so that they can attend the funeral and pay their respects. It’s a public record of your life that will be read by generations of your family and could be used in the future to help trace your descendants' lineage. It can also be a final, heartfelt goodbye from your family and if you help write it in advance, it will truly represent you.

Types of Funerals

There are many different ways to provide an experience to support loved ones and friends in the wake of your passing. Whether you’d like a traditional ceremony, an informal service, or another type of gathering all together, the way in which you choose to be remembered is a personal choice. Here are some of your options:

• Celebration of Life: This is a very personal gathering, centered around remembering and celebrating all of the good things about your life. These tend to be less formal and can be uniquely themed or planned to reflect your passions and interests.
• Graveside Service: Also known as a committal, a graveside service can follow a funeral or other ceremony and is conducted as the casket is interred into the grave.
• Memorial Service: This is a service for friends and loved ones without the body present. In the case that you’ve selected cremation, the memorial service is held after the cremation has taken place and may have your ashes present in an urn. In the event that you’ve chosen burial, the service would follow the burial.
• Religious Funeral: This is the perfect choice for those to whom faith means a great deal. These differ depending on which religion you adhere to but are often formal and more traditional.
• Visitation: This is an event where friends and family pay their respects to the family of the deceased without the body present, and often precedes the funeral or memorial service.
• Viewing: A gathering that allows loved ones to visit your open casket and pay their respects.
• Wake: Wakes are usually held in someone’s home and can precede another type of ceremony.

Prepaid funeral plans are a great option to plan for your final wishes as well as prepay for them, saving your family from the stress and uncertainty that comes with having to make difficult decisions and handle unexpected finances during a time of grief and sadness.

At Everdays, our pleasant planning experience helps you plan your funeral now, so loved ones have everything they’ll need when the time comes. You can save and store your free, digital funeral plan in your secure Everdays account and give your family access to all of your decisions so they know what to do and who to call – saving loved ones from stressful decisions during an already difficult time.

Funeral planning in 3 simple steps:

1. Tell us about yourself - Answer a few easy questions about your preferences and we’ll help you find the services and support you want to put in place.
2. Get a personal, actionable plan - We’ll turn your decisions into a complete, printable, digital plan that is saved & accessible so your family knows just what to do when the time comes.
3. Share everything with your family - Give loved ones instant access to your decisions. Whenever you’re ready, you can provide for your family by securing your plan to save them from an unexpected financial burden in the future.

Types of Burials

Like a funeral, burials come in all shapes and sizes, too. If you’ve chosen burial instead of cremation as your preferred disposition type, making the choice between the various burial options will lift the burden from your loved ones. Let’s take a look at some of the most common choices:

• Above-Ground Burial: An above-ground burial is perfect for those wishing to be buried in areas closer to sea level and prone to floods. It is a small plot of land with a crypt or a niche in which the deceased is entombed.
• In-Ground Burial: The most common type of grave, an in-ground burial sees the casket buried below the earth and marked with a grave marker or headstone.
• Mausoleum (Public or Private): A mausoleum is a building constructed specifically to house the remains of people. They can be public or private.
• Natural Burial: A natural burial is one in which the body is buried without anything that will prevent natural decay and decomposition, allowing the body to be recycled into the earth.

If you haven’t decided on burial yet, cremation is another great option to consider. You can explore more about prepaid cremation as a way to pay for your cremation ahead of time so your family won’t have to navigate these decisions and expenses during a difficult time.

Our content is created for educational purposes only. This material is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for tax, legal, or investment advice. Everdays encourages individuals to seek advice from their own investment or tax advisor or legal counsel.