The most difficult conversations and decisions often turn out to be the ones that ease the burdens for the ones we love the most – and for ourselves. That includes advance planning, putting end-of-life directives in place. “Getting our affairs in order.” It eliminates much of the decision-making-while-grieving for our most important people. It subverts the tensions of emotional disagreements.

 After your death, advance planning is a loving hand on the shoulder of the people you love, comforting them, telling them, “I love you enough to want to make this job a little easier for you. Let me hold you one more time – while you do this hard thing.”

My parents did all the things. I remember the first time they handed me an updated copy of their will. They told me the highlights, the logistics for me – a writer, a teacher, a preserver of photos and family history – to deal with a gun dealership and an entire vault full of Dad’s gun collection. They shared their decision to be cremated, to share an urn, to be placed in the same plot as my brother who passed at only 16 years old. These were difficult things for me to hear. They were difficult things for them to say.

But, not enough years later, when Mom took her last breath and released her spirit from her body, when she took leave of us, when she passed, Dad and I and my oldest son, Chapin, gathered the next day at the funeral home. The director pulled their file and reviewed what was already in place. And I was thankful. There were still a few decisions – choosing the urn that would accommodate the remains of two people, picking a day and a way to celebrate my mama, determining how many death certificates to order. It was a lot, but without their responsible planning, it would have been so much more, and we probably would not have managed to honor her wishes quite so well.

The moments were still awful. There’s no way to avoid that. But Mom’s wishes, decided with Dad, were in place. We didn’t wonder about anything. 

When we think of advance planning, of course the first thing that comes to mind is the planning of a funeral or memorial service, determining how and where to take your eternal rest, and of course wills. But there’s more to it than that, and there’s quite a bit of it that I can help with.

First, know where your documents are, and secure them.

• Documents include insurance policies, wills, power of attorney documentation, banking and financial documents, and family history – to include birth certificates, social security cards, family trees, and more.
• To secure them,
  • Digitize them and store those in an “ADVANCE PLANNING” album in your FOREVER Storage Account.
  • Put the paper originals in the safest place possible – a fireproof box or a safe, store them with a trusted friend and your attorney – because you DO need the paper originals.
    

    Click on this image to visit the demo album suggesting organization for your PRIVATE LEGAL DOCUMENTS Album in Your FOREVER Storage Account.

Procure the documents you do not have.

• Power of Attorney documents, Living Wills, Will – I recommend you reach out to attorney Mary-Jo Mullen of Halbrunner, Hatch, and Guise, LLC. If you’re not local, reach out to Mary-Jo or me, and we will help you to find another vetted attorney.
• Financial documents come from a variety of places.
  • If you need wealth management, I recommend Davinder Sidhu of Grove Wealth Management or Laurie Bodisch of Her Wealth Coach.
  • Both of these financial advisors are people with whom I have worked and I trust for us and for you.
• Insurance – again, many types of insurance are available. For each one you secure, update, or add beneficiaries to, be sure to add them to a private “LEGAL DOCUMENTS” album in your FOREVER Storage Account.
• Some insurance professionals I have worked with and recommend to you:
  • LIFE INSURANCE – Mark Clarke knows the best and newest offerings in the market and can help with other insurance options as well. Reach out to him at Generation Bank / Tailwinds Insurance, LLC.
  • PERSONAL INSURANCE – home, auto, renters – all those things that insure your possessions. Contact Vickie Verbos at Lewis Insurance & Financial. Her work with insuring all that matters to you is a personal mission of hers, and so she is passionate and well-educated to advise you. Whatever you have insured, take photos or video, download digital user manuals / scan paper ones and store them in your “LEGAL DOCUMENTS” Album in your FOREVER Storage Account. Keep receipts, document their condition and historical or sentimental value.
• If you have a business,
  • Be sure your insuring documents are included in your “LEGAL DOCUMENTS” album in your FOREVER Storage Account, along with documentation of the physical holdings you are insuring. For great advice on necessary coverage, I recommend Brendan Renne of Christian Baker Company.
  • Don’t DIY the legal side of it. Chris Fisher of Saidis, Shultz & Fisher can help you with a succession plan or exit strategy. Secure all these documents in FOREVER Storage in a private “LEGAL DOCUMENTS” Album.
• Those of us who are divorced or have blended families, sometimes have special custody issues that need to be addressed so our children, their care, and their financial interests are not in jeopardy. If you need a family law attorney for matters of custody, divorce, division among family members, or other matters, I highly recommend Theresa Weaver-Barbers at Tanner Law. Keep your most recent documentation of custody in your “LEGAL DOCUMENTS” Album in your FOREVER Storage Account. Aside from the preservation of the documents, this keeps them immediately on hand any time you need them.

I am by no means giving legal advice, but I know a few things from my own experience.

1. The fact that my parents had everything pre-planned and pre-paid, that they recently updated their will, their living wills / directives, and power of attorney documents was a blessing during a very difficult time.
2. I have the good fortune of an excellent well-vetted network, and so I recommend them to you. If you’d like to chat about why I recommend them or would like me to share your contact information with them, just let me know.

 But there is something else for you to consider.

I alluded to it earlier, but let’s talk about the emotional “assets” – the treasures, the priceless artifacts and stories that define YOU – not the social security number, not the bank account balance, but the YOU that is loved and will be missed. My specialty is helping you to create a meaningful digital estate that will give you just a bit of immortality, that will carry your stories to future generations.

Creating your digital estate is not difficult.

Dani’s Pixel Place offers FOREVER® products that give you a single cohesive, secure, guaranteed space for everything.

I’d love to talk with you or gather your family, friends, or co-workers to teach you more about this.

In the meantime, take a look at some of the things I’ve prepared for you.

One of the many perks of creating your digital estate with Dani’s Pixel Place is this – When you share the albums you create, they are not static links.

• As you add files, update information, add details to the album, the people with whom you have shared them can see those changes.
• If there is a parting of ways between you and the person with whom you have shared the link, you can disable the link and regenerate it to send to a different person.
• If you need others to contribute to the contents of your album(s), turn on the toggle switch allowing them to do so.

I’ve covered a lot of ground here, so I’m going to wrap this up with some links containing instructional information for your consideration.

1. Create or log into your account at danispixelplace.com.
2. Learn more about or purchase FOREVER® Storage.
3. Learn more about digitizing your outdated media with FOREVER® Box.
4. Find checklists, product and services details, and helpful tidbits in my DEMO ALBUMS. If you’d like to try adding a photo or two (something you’re okay with other people seeing), I’ve set them both as collaborative albums.
   • Demo ADVANCE PLANNING
   • Demo LEGAL DOCUMENTS

I look forward to helping you to address the task of Advance End-of-Life Planning by creating a permanent Digital Estate that will carry your story into the future and preserve your family history.

[email protected]

717.440.2559

www.danispixelplace.com

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