Public Spark

Death and dying is a hard topic for anyone to talk about, but inevitably something that needs to be talked about. This is a list of things parents should tell their children.

1. Funeral arrangements

   It requires a lot of planning even to reserve plot of land for burial and service. By organizing your wishes, it saves time and money. Also, planning allows the children more time to go through the grieving process and bring closure into their lives.

2. Wills

   Especially when there are many children involved and/or large estates and assets, it is important to keep a will. It is also important to go through a will/trust attorney to make sure every detail is covered legally. Many families are torn apart because the properties are not clearly written out. My extended family had this problem and our family was torn apart over a small property.

3. Medical Insurance

   This is always important to go over in the case that (god forbid) parents get sick or are chronically ill. It will be hard financially for most children to try and cover health costs for their parents.

4. Advanced Directives

   This is a great legal document to write out before you are sick. In this way, if you are unable to communicate to others at the time of the illness, the document will communicate for you. For more information: LivingWill

5. Five Wishes

   Type of living will that can be a legal document in 40 U.S. States. I am in the process of filling one out and noticed that it is clearly organized and easy to fill out. You can access one from Five Wishes or order a paper application by calling 1-888-5-Wishes

Not only does this help parents who will have things in order, it will be comforting for the children to know their parents wishes and help with closure when providing parents with what they want. It is extremely difficult when none of this information is handed down to you. I know first hand because my grandmother who is 82, does not and refuses to have any of these things in place. As a family, we feel confused and unsure of what to do when my grandmother passes. We will have a difficult time bringing closure because we don’t know what she wants. I believe that it is a disservice for both the people involved in this process because all is left feeling helpless. We cannot control the fact that we will die one day; however, we can choose how we want to die and what wishes we want our children to carry out for us.