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Two Together: Save £100!
Save £100 when you purchase two funeral plans together. Call us for more details.
Two Together: Save £100!
Save £100 when you purchase two funeral plans together. Call us for more details.
7 minute read
Starting our end of life planning isn’t something that comes easily to all of us.
Every instinct that we have as human beings is to survive. We eat for fuel, we sleep for re-energising, we drink for hydration; everything we do is to live our lives in the best and most comfortable way possible.
So for that reason, of course we don’t want to think about what happens when our lives end.
But planning for death doesn’t mean that we stop living. In fact, embracing the inevitable is one of the many ways we can acknowledge the fragility of life, and learn to squeeze just a little bit more out of it.
And not just for ourselves. End of life planning can bring peace of mind to those around us, too. When we are thrown into disarray the moment someone we love takes their last breath, understanding what we have to do next can bring immeasurable comfort at a time it’s needed most.
In this article, we’ve listed six things you might want to think about when planning for the end of your life, and how sharing your wishes with a family member, friend, medical professional or solicitor can enable those around you to continue to celebrate your life meaningfully – even when you’re not here to celebrate with them.
In 2020, the law around organ donation changed from an opt-in to an opt-out system. This means that, if we die in circumstances where organ donation could be possible and the person who has died is over the age of 18, almost everyone is considered a potential donor – even if they haven’t opted in previously.
However, this doesn’t mean that donation is guaranteed to go ahead. The transplant team will inform your next of kin of eligibility, and ask their permission for a donation.
Even if you have explicitly expressed your wishes that you would like to donate your organs, your next of kin can still say no, and organ donation will not go ahead.
This is why sharing these wishes with those closest to you is so important. The idea of organ donation is a difficult thing for many of us to comprehend, but by knowing that it was the wish of the person they loved, makes that decision for them just that little bit easier.
Advanced Care Planning (ACP) allows you to set out your wishes for future health care before you need them.
As an example, your ACP needs might consider whether you would like to receive care at home if it was ever needed, or if you would prefer to move into a care home.
As part of ACP, you might want to think about an Advanced Statement, a written statement which sets out your preferences, wishes and beliefs in your future care plans.
Planning your care in advance makes it more likely that your wishes will be understood and followed. However, it’s important to remember that ACP is not legally binding and there could be circumstances when doctors or nurses don’t follow the wishes you’ve recorded.
You may also consider a Living Will, also known as an advanced decision to refuse treatment, which lets your healthcare team know your wishes if you are unable to communicate them. It applies to life-sustaining treatments such as ventilation, CPR and antibiotics.
A will is a legally-binding document that ensures your money, property, possessions and investments go to the people you want them to after you’ve died.
You can write a will yourself, or with the support of lawyers, professional will-writers, charities and banks.
Remember, to ensure a will is valid, it must be signed by you and witnessed by two people. You should also tell your executor (the person who will act on your behalf after you’ve died) where you have kept your will so that they can easily find it as and when they need to.
Age UK has a web page that tells you everything you need to know if you’re looking to write a will.
A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that nominates someone you trust to help you make decisions on your behalf.
Choosing an LPA gives you more control over what happens to you if you become unwell and are unable to make your own decisions (or lack ‘mental capacity’).
There are two types of LPA: health and welfare; and property and financial affairs. You can choose to make somebody one type of LPA, or both.
You can choose an LPA at any time of your life, it just means that there is somebody already in place if you ever fall ill or are in an accident and lose mental capacity.
According to MoneyHelper, it can take around 8-10 weeks to register an LPA.
Our pets are a part of our family, so it’s important that we consider where our pets go if we become unable to care for them.
Lots of us may have a close friend or family member lined up to adopt our furry friends if it was ever necessary, but if that’s not the case, there are charities that can help.
The Cinnamon Trust offers voluntary dog walking support to those who are unable to look after their pets themselves. The criteria is that the whole household must be over 65, unless they are living with a terminal illness. However, it is possible to make long-term provisions with the Cinnamon Trust.
The Blue Cross also offers a free Pet Peace of Mind service, where they do everything they can to give your pet a safe and loving home if the worst happens.
According to The Independent, 43% of people have gone into debt to pay for a loved one’s funeral. And according to the SunLife (2023) Cost of Dying Report, the average cost of send-off fees (such as flowers, catering and a wake) stand at £2,768.
Sharing your funeral wishes with your loved ones ensures that those closest to you don’t have to worry about spending money on unnecessary extras that you don’t want.
Sharing these wishes means that, at an already difficult time, those closest to you can make the arrangements with comfort that they’re planning a funeral that truly reflects you, and not what tradition tells them it should be.
With Aura’s Digital Planning and Legacy Tools, you can share all of the above wishes with those closest to you for free. Set messages to send on a special date, list the location of important documents and share the memories you want to be shared when you’re gone.
Nominate a trusted person to have access to these wishes so that, when you’ve died, no questions are left unanswered.
And if you want to save your loved ones from the burden of paying for your funeral, Aura also offers low-cost, prepaid direct cremation plans. We are the only funeral plan provider to have five-star-ratings across all available funeral plan options by Fairer Finance, and we offer flexible payment options across 12 and 24 months.
To find out more about our funeral plans, call us on 0333 242 1088.
