7 Reasons to Have Your End-of-Life Plans Made in Advance

As much as you might not want to think about it, you will need to make plans for the end of your life. This includes everything from funeral arrangements to deciding what will happen to your finances. Rather than leave this to your loved ones when you pass, it’s always better to take care of them yourself in advance. Here are 7 reasons why.

1. Protect Your Finances

If you don’t have a will, any assets you have will be distributed among your survivors according to the laws of your state. Not only will you have no control over where your assets go, but a large portion of your estate could be lost to taxes. If you want any say in what happens to your assets, speak to your attorney about writing a will and having an estate plan.

2. Protect Your Children

If you have children under 18, the state will determine who receives custody of them if you and your spouse die and don’t have a plan in place. This could be disastrous for everyone involved, so a written plan stating who will get custody of your children is a must.

3. Receive the Kind of Care You Want at the End of Your Life

If you don’t have a living will that states what kind of care you wish to receive in a life-threatening situation, you could end up receiving aggressive care that you may not want. It’s one thing if there is a good chance that you will recover, but you might not want to spend your final days on life support or receiving painful medical treatments when there is almost no chance of recovery. If this is something you absolutely don’t want, include a living will in your end-of-life plans.

4. Arrange the Memorial Service that You Want

An end-of-life plan should include arrangements for your memorial service, burial arrangements, and headstone choice. Not only will this make things easier for your loved ones, but the service will be carried out according to your wishes.

5. Make Things Easier for Your Loved Ones

If you don’t have an end-of-life plan in place, it will be up to your loved ones to handle all arrangements regarding medical care and funeral arrangements. Things will be hard enough on your family and friends already, and you don’t want to put them through any unnecessary stress. If you have an end-of-life plan already in place, you won’t have to worry as much about how they will handle everything.

6. Save Money for Your Loved Ones

End-of-life care and funeral arrangements can get very expensive, and not everyone will be able to pay for everything they want for their loved ones. If you have a plan in place, you’ll be able to allocate some of your assets to pay for most of your arrangements. Again, things will be hard enough for your loved ones, so you don’t want to put too much of a strain on their finances.

7. Life is Uncertain

Finally, it’s best to have an end-of-life plan in place because you can never be sure when the end of your life will be. Simply put, anything can happen at any time, and it’s impossible to plan for everything. As long as you have a plan in place, you won’t have to worry about the kind of care you will receive. It may not be something you want to think about, but you need to be prepared for anything.