Dying to Know Day

Have you heard of  dying to know day? http://www.thegroundswellproject.com/dyingtoknowday/

If not, you are probably not alone. Many people do not like to talk about dying, hence the idea of a dying to know day. 

  

We all know one day we are going to dye, but we live in denial. The end result is that major decisions one can make are not made.

Of course it is difficult to think about things like who will look after me when I’m old and unable to make decisions for myself, or who will make decisions for myself when I no longer can, or who should I leave my money to, when you are able bodied and death seems a long way off.

Trouble is that if you don’t make decisions about these things while you are still able to, you may have left it too late.

Life is unpredictable. Life doesn’t always follow a neat path. You may be lucky and it will work out for you, but then again, you not.

We all know about people who have been surprised by illness, injury or accidents, which left them unable to keep making decisions about their own affairs. And, unfortunately, often people like these did not plan ahead.

What can you do?

For starters you can get yourself documents called enduring power of attorney financial and enduring guardianship for medical decisions. Before you sign these documents you will need to work out who you trust enough to make important medical decisions for you and look after your finances. Bare in mind if you were to appoint someone like an accountant or lawyer, these people are entitled to charge for their time.

You should know the enduring power of attorney and guardianship means the person who is your attorney has the power to continue to make decisions for you even you lose capacity to do so for yourself.

Much is written on this and you can find more information here.

http://www.publicadvocate.vic.gov.au/power-of-attorney

Important Note: The law is about to change with respect to power of attorney and guardianship. The changes are to come into effect on 1 September 2015.

Mediation

If you think some of your decisions may create conflict amongst family members why not mediate with an accredited mediator before you make decisions?

For more information go to:

http://www.bassbaymediation.com.au/

or here:

https://www.deathwise.org/2012/02/22/mediating-end-of-life-disagreements/

Wills

A person which dies without a will dies intestate. This means that the law will determine how the assets are divided up. It does not mean your money will go the state.

However, to be sure your assets are divided the way you want, you should make a will.

Remember that superannuation is not part of your estate and you need to make a binding nomination with your super fund for your super to be distributed in line with your wishes. Check with your super fund what is required.

Want to know more?

Why not find an event near where you are on August 8 2015?

Peninsula Life Celebration and Divorce Logistics have joined forces with Bass Bay Mediation to be available for general information at Rosebud Plaza from 12.30 pm for a couple of hours on 8 August 2015.