Your end of life documents are a love letter you write for your people

My partner didn’t believe in wills. He always said “all my stuff will go to my son anyway, so what’s the point?” When he drowned, every member of his distant, far-flung family had an opinion about what should be done with his body, what kind of service we should have, and who had “rights” to his remains or his gravesite. There was chaos and in-fighting and drama, all while Matt’s son and I were still trying to wrap our heads around the fact that Matt disappeared on an ordinary, fine summer day and would never be coming back.⁣

Having clear legal documents that outlined Matt’s wishes would have given us an impartial, irrefutable document to stand behind. It would have kept all that crazy from our doorstep.

End of life documents aren’t just about who gets your stuff. Clear documentation of your wishes helps protect your people from the inevitable chaos that erupts in the aftermath of death.

It won’t fix their grief, but it will make things a tiny bit easier in those early days after you’re gone.⁣
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Your end of life documents are a love letter you write for your people, in advance, to protect and provide for That Day, somewhere off in the future. Let that love help you push through your anxiety/aversion/I’ll do it someday, and get those documents done.⁣

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Preparing for something you never want to happen is actually a gigantic gift of love for the people you love. It says that you love them enough to face the reality that you have no control over your death. It says even in this, I will give you evidence of love. I will do what I can to love you.
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End of Life documents are important for everyone. It’s not just about “where your stuff goes,” it’s about how you want to be cared for, before and after death. It’s about making your wishes clear so that any fighting can more easily be resolved (and there will be fighting).

Lantern will help you get those documents & plans sorted.⁣ Find out all about them at this link.

If your person had EOL documents in place, what aspects were made easier by having them? If they didn’t have them, what might having those legal documents have prevented or made easier for you?⁣