Baby Boomers who are nearing retirement age should plan and document our final wishes.
It is not morbid to think about these matters.
It will save your family a lot of grief and heartache to know exactly what your wishes are for your funeral and dividing of your property.
There are three things you can do to organize your final wishes: hire an attorney to prepare a living will, a durable power of attorney and a last will and testament; prepare a list for your funeral arrangement; discuss all of the above with your family and trusted friends.
Look for an attorney who specializes in estate planning to help you.
They will explain the options you have to prepare a living will, which will be in effect if you have a terminal condition and are not able to respond to questions.
With a durable power of attorney, you decide who will have the authority to make your medical and financial decisions in case you are not able to while you are living.
The same attorney can then help you write a last will and testament which determines who you leave your possessions to.
The next thing you can do is think about if you want a funeral or memorial service.
If so, you decide what type of service, where it will be held, what songs or verses you want and who you want to conduct the service.
Write it all down and be sure to write down if you have strong views about whether you want to be buried or cremated.
The last and most important thing is to discuss all of this with your family or a trusted friend.
Give them copies of your living will, durable power of attorney, last will and testament and your funeral arrangements.
These are the people who will see that your wishes are carried out.
It is so helpful to those people who will be carrying out your final wishes to know that you have provided this information to them.
They will like knowing that they are doing exactly what you want them to do and it will give you a great peace of mind to have these details taken care of.