This blog has spent a lot of time discussing the important of planning when it comes to funerals and death. While these are somewhat taboo subjects, much pain and grief and confusion can be avoided with a little preplanning. From providing authority over your social media accounts to pre-arranging your own funeral, there are many ways to be prepared for the inevitable event of your death or to help a loved one prepare for theirs.
The digital age has seen the advent of many tools to help people plan for deaths and funerals. Now more than ever, our wishes can be made clear and the guesswork is taken out of planning a funeral. Here are a few interesting applications that can help you plan for the future.
This application is defined as a “digital time capsule.” The service allows you to create messages to be shared at a certain future event (like a wedding or graduation) or on a future date (like a birthday or anniversary). You can even leave messages to be sent when your loved ones arrive in a specific location, like the lake house that was very special to the family. SafeBeyond also allows you to send a final message on all of your social media accounts.
Everplans is a more practical application, providing a central, online storage space for important assets like wills, trusts, accounts, passwords, bills, medical information, and insurance policies. Paperwork is the last thing a family wants to deal with while grieving someone’s passing, and with Everplans, it’s all in one place and ready to go when a person dies.
You can also include your final wishes and funeral preferences in Everplans. You can specify the general logistics—such as your preference for burial
or cremation—as well as more specific personalizations of your memorial service, like music and flowers.
You designate “deputies” who can access this information after your passing, and Everplan ensures the utmost security of your information.
Afternote also allows you to designate funeral wishes in a secure, digital platform that can be accessed by loved ones after your passing. You can also provide information about inheritance and where to pass on care for pets. It’s important to remember that these digitized requests are not legally binding, and it’s still important to draft a will and discuss your plans with loved ones.
Afternote also includes specific directions for navigating almost every social media account after death.
Talk to Your Funeral Director
Whether you decide to use one of these new apps or not, it’s important to discuss your plans with a funeral director. Funeral directors can guide you in clarifying your final wishes and might make suggestions you hadn’t considered.