Making Things Easier for Those You Leave Behind

The period following a death is a highly emotional time. Preplanning is wise. It saves your family having to make difficult and often expensive decisions under emotional stress and the immediate urgency of a death in the family.

Making a Will

Having a will is important. It disposes of your property, under law, as you would wish and covers unforeseen circumstances in your life. Even if you think you own nothing of value, a will enables you to take care of items of sentimental value, property that might be inherited before death, or money acquired at death through life insurance, pension benefits or court awards.

Often, people believe the property they own will automatically pass to the right person whether or not they have a will. If you don't have a will, that may not always be true. If you do, your wishes will be followed.

It is important to keep your will in a safe place. Make sure the executor of your will knows where it is. If there are significant changes in your estate, your will should be updated.

A Legal Information Guide for Seniors, also found on this website, may assist you to better understand the legal system. It provides information on wills and estates, power of attorney, health care directives, hiring a lawyer and other important legal information.

Arranging Your Affairs

Do you know where your important papers and documents are? If not, it's unlikely your family could find them. Make sure your executor knows where they are.

• birth certificate
• social insurance number
• marriage certificate
• safety deposit box and keys
• securities and records
• power of attorney
• burial plans
• armed services record
• old age security number
• will
• insurance policies
• mortgages
• deeds
• tax bills
• leases
• debts
• bank accounts.

Once your list is complete, put it in a safe place for future reference.

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Preplanning Funeral Arrangements

It is very practical and acceptable to preplan certain funeral arrangements. Information regarding your funeral plans and burial plot should be included in your personal record.

Most people may have quite definite ideas about their funeral. But often, they neglect to make definite arrangements, either with their family or with a funeral home. Preplanning removes the difficulty for the family to make these arrangements and helps to ensure that your wishes will be followed.

Not everyone wants the same thing. Some will prefer extremely simple arrangements, and some will want more elaborate ones. But pre-planning allows an intelligent choice to be made.

You may not wish to make extensive plans, but you should leave instructions as to whether you prefer a burial or cremation.

There are many options for marking and celebrating one's life—such as donation of organs for transplant or one's body for scientific study; gifts to research funds for disease, for scholarships, or gifts for charitable work.

Costs of funerals vary. You may want to compare the services and costs of funeral homes and consult with the Funeral Planning and Memorial Society of Manitoba.

The Funeral Planning and Memorial Society of Manitoba supports simplicity and moderate cost in funerals. It provides counselling and preplanning assistance, information on instructional guidelines, personal arrangement forms, a price and services guide (which details all options and locations available to you), guidance and instructions on what to do when a death occurs and provision of a crypt and ash garden for use of its members.

The Society helps consumers to plan funerals so that all expenses are known in advance. There are no prepayment contracts required. You may change or update your own arrangements at anytime. The Society charges a small membership fee, which is set by the Province, to administer a client's file.

For more information on membership and arrangements, contact the Funeral Planning and Memorial Society of Manitoba, 661 Jubilee Avenue, Winnipeg MB R3L 1P5 Phone: 452-7999.

Choosing a Funeral Home

• Have you met the funeral director in your community?
  
  
• Do you know their personal and professional reputation?
  
  
• How long have they been serving the community?
  
  
• What has been the experience of relatives, friends and neighbours?
  
  
• Is the funeral home a full-service facility, able to handle all of your needs including chapel, visitation room and reception area?
  
  
• Are staff provincially-certified personnel?

Funeral homes and consultants who are members of the Manitoba Funeral Association have been certified as professionals and follow the Association's code of ethics.

This material was produced in co-operation with the Funeral Planning and Memorial Society of Manitoba.

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