Give Your Family Peace of Mind With The Invaluable Gift of Estate Planning
Deciding to create an estate plan is hard because it requires us to confront our mortality: that’s difficult and, at the same time, a true gift.
Many things bring people to seek out estate planning services at Maguire Law. Some have specific concerns about minor children and want to plan for their care. Some have specific tax concerns, others want to avoid probate and minimize the burden of estate administration for their loved ones, and others want to be sure to have appointed a financial and medical agent.
One thing all clients and potential clients have in common is that, in some way, shape, or form, they have thought about their own mortality. It’s heavy; there’s no way around it. However, it can also be incredibly thought-provoking, even liberating. In fact, by the time they’ve completed their estate plans, all clients express relief and a sense of peace.
I recognize the rawness and tenderness that clients experience when planning for incapacity and death and approach estate planning with the appropriate reverence. Recently, I watched a TED Talk by death doula Alua Arthur that perfectly captured what I love most about estate planning: “Why thinking about death helps you live a better life.”
As Ms. Arthur so brilliantly observed:
“Death creates context for our lives. My entire life is leading up until that point. How we die creates the period at the end of the sentence. It is the period that makes it a sentence at all.”
It’s a powerful thought that, despite anyone’s spiritual, religious, or other beliefs, comes forward in discussing estate planning.
Death Doulas and End-of-Life Care
Ms. Arthur and other death doulas provide services to the ill and dying in the form of emotional, spiritual, and practical support. In her recently published book, Briefly Perfectly Human: Making an Authentic Life by Getting Real About the End, Ms. Arthur discusses the full spectrum of support her clients need, which begins with the very practical aspect of getting financial affairs in order, transferring property, and extends all the way to the type of medical care, end-of-life care and memorial and funeral planning, and planning and support for the family and friends after their loved one has passed. All of this contributes to a peaceful passing and an environment of support for loved ones.
Advance Directives are Essential to Planning for End-of-Life
One document that death doulas encourage clients to prepare is an advance directive. In Maryland, an advance directive is an estate planning document through which you designate an agent to make health care decisions on your behalf in the event of incapacity. You can provide specific instructions concerning your medical care preferences in an advance directive. Whether or not you have strong personal views on these issues, taking the time to set forth these instructions can be incredibly beneficial to family and friends so they do not have to guess at or have conflict over what you would have wanted.
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Making a Plan Will Give You and Your Family Peace of Mind
I encourage you to take the invitation to think about our mortality, as daunting and scary as it is. Death is inevitable, but there is a lot that you can do to maximize your own peace and that of your loved ones through estate planning.
In the words of Alua Arthur, “This is what I wish for all of us: a life that feels like the miracle it is and a death that serves as a period on a satisfying sentence. Because we live, we get to die. That is a gift.”
Briefly Perfectly Human: Making an Authentic Life by Getting Real About the End, p. 251.
*This blog is for educational purposes and does not constitute legal advice.
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