Preparing for the inevitable can be a kindness to others
Along with taxes, we all face one other grim inevitability: We’re all going to die.
No one but tax attorneys and IRS agents likes to think about the former, and possibly only morticians routinely contemplate the latter, but the prudent person sets aside money to pay taxes and wise individuals make some preparations for their passing.
Think of it as a last kindness to the people you love.
The website of the American Bar Association offers a comprehensive list of ways in which people can be as prepared as possible. That address is http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/publiced/practical/books/wills/chapter_11.authcheckdam.pdf.
“You’ll want to minimize your relative’s distress during the trying months after your departure,” the site states.
One of the more important sections of that page on the site is an area entitled “Cushioning the Blow.”
“Many people are as concerned with sparing their survivors grief and stress as they are about dying themselves,” the site states. “Especially in families where one spouse is the primary wage earner, the loss of income from that spouse’s death can be as devastating financially as it is emotionally. For that reason, your estate planning should include some provision for an emergency fund for your survivors, to tide them over the period immediately following your death.”
Among the many other items included are:
- Final instructions for a funeral and burial
- Making provisions in a will for the disposal of personal property and even of business property
- Selecting the proper person to handle the probate of the estate of exploring ways in which probate can be avoided altogether
