When you are planning your estate, it is best if you take a comprehensive approach. When you take care of all the things that are within your power, you make a difficult time that much easier for your loved ones.
Plus, you can make sure that your own true wishes are carried out on every level. With this in mind, you may want to address your final arrangements when you are contemplating your legacy.
Final Arrangements: Assert Your Choices
After you give the matter some thought and come up with a vision in your mind’s eye, you can leave instructions with regard to the way you will be put to rest. This can be done in a document called a letter of last instructions.
The letter can express whether you want to be cremated or buried. You can also state all the details with regard to a viewing, a wake, and a memorial service. Many people will follow family and religious traditions, and others will have their own ideas.
From a psychological perspective, the incremental steps that lead up to the final goodbye can be helpful as loved ones gradually come to grips with the loss. This being said, this is a personal matter, and you would do well to assert your own choices in advance.
Financial Considerations
You can make sure that funds are set aside to cover the final expenses. Many people use life insurance proceeds. You can also create a bank account with a beneficiary (POD account) that can be trusted to use the funds to pay for your last expenses.
There are prepaid funeral plans that are offered by different entities. However, you should tread lightly when you enter these waters. Over the years, there have been instances of fraud, and short of this, overcharging is not uncommon.
We are not going to disparage the entire industry, but every expert will tell you to proceed with caution. Of course, if you have an existing relationship with a funeral home director that has served your family well in the past, you may feel confident paying in advance.
Trust Administration
While we are on the subject, we should share some other things to think about when you are creating your letter of last instructions. This letter is typically addressed to the executor that will be acting as the administrator after you are gone.
If you have a living trust, the administrator will be the trustee. When you have a trust, you can include a pour-over will to facilitate the transfer of personally held assets into the trust. You can also name a guardian for dependent children in a will, and you cannot do this in the trust.
Additional Details
The administrator will need to know the location of important hardcopy documents and keys to property and storage units. Most people conduct a lot of business online, so you should list your accounts and provide the appropriate login information.
Your letter of final instructions can address your social media accounts and any blogs and websites that you may have. You should also share contact information for people that should be notified about your passing.
These are a handful of details that can serve as a framework, but you can simply apply common sense when you are composing your letter of last instructions.
Attend a Free Educational Program!
We are conducting a series of educational events over the coming weeks that will cover the most important estate planning topics. You should definitely carve out some time to join us, and there is no charge, so this is a great opportunity to build on your knowledge.
The dates are posted on our events page. When you identify the session you would like to attend, follow the instructions to register so we can reserve your spot.
Need Help Now?
If you have already decided that it is time for you to work with an Oklahoma City estate planning attorney to put a plan in place, we are here to help. You can send us a message to request a consultation appointment, and we can be reached by phone at 405-843-6100.
We also have an office in Tulsa, and the number there is 918-615-2700.
Since founding Parman & Easterday in 1985, Larry has led over 1,000 free, community-service education programs and helped more than 10,000 Oklahoma families go from putting off their estate plan to getting it done. His goal for every client is the same: to become the person their family calls "the one who took care of everything."
Larry is the author of three books: The Straight Shooter's Guide to Estate Planning; Estate Planning Basics; and Guiding Those Left Behind in Oklahoma. He served as Oklahoma's Secretary of State and Secretary of Commerce, and his firm is the only member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys in the state.
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