Author: mike

Categories
Preparedness Planning

How to prepare for “end of life” now to make it easier later

When a loved one dies, in addition to the emotional strain, arrangements need to be made and people need to be contacted.  All of these things need to be done in the shortest amount of time.  Many of these details can be planned ahead of time.  By making these important decisions now, you can minimize the emotional strain that will be placed on your survivors. Don’t leave your loved ones guessing…guide them now. Secure Vital Statistics (required for burial permit)

  1. Name, address and phone number
  2. How long in state
  3. Name of business, address and phone
  4. Occupation and title
  5. Social Security number
  6. War Veterans Serial Number
  7. Date of birth
  8. Place of birth
  9. US Citizen
  10. Father’s name
  11. Father’s birthplace
  12. Mother’s maiden name
  13. Mother’s birthplace
  14. Religions name (if any)

Pay some or all of the following:

  1. Family burial estate
  2. Memorials
  3. Funeral director
  4. Interment Service
  5. Clergy
  6. Florist
  7. Clothing
  8. Transportation
  9. Telephone and telegraph
  10. Food
  11. Doctors
  12. Nurses
  13. Hospitals and ambulance
  14. Medicine and drugs
  15. Other current and urgent bills (mortgage or rent, taxes, installment payments)

Collect Documents (required to establish rights for insurance, pensions, social security, ownership, relationship, etc.)

  1. Will
  2. Legal proof of age or birth certificate
  3. Social Security card or number
  4. Marriage license
  5. Citizenship papers
  6. Insurance policies (life, health and accident, property)
  7. Bank books and credit cards
  8. Deeds to property
  9. Bill of sale of car
  10. Income tax returns, receipts or cancelled checks
  11. Veterans discharge certificate
  12. Disability claims
  13. Memorial park certificate of ownership

Decide and Arrange Within a Few Hours

  1. Burial estate location and space
  2. Memorial type inscription
  3. Casket type
  4. Clothing for deceased
  5. Vault or sectional crypt
  6. Type of service (religious, military, fraternal)
  7. Special selection from scriptures
  8. Clergy to officiate
  9. Name of funeral director
  10. Place where service is to be held
  11. Time for funeral service
  12. Name of charitable organization to which donations are suggested in memory of deceased
  13. Providing information for eulogy
  14. Select names for pallbearers
  15. Music
  16. Clothing for you and children
  17. Preparation at home, including food for family and guests
  18. Extra chairs
  19. Transportation for family and guests, including planning funeral car list
  20. Checking and signing necessary papers for burial permit
  21. Providing vital statistics about deceased to newspapers.
  22. Providing addresses and telephone numbers for all interested people
  23. Answering innumerable sympathetic phone calls, messages, wires and letters
  24. Meeting and talking with funeral director, cemetery representative clergy, about all details.
  25. Greeting all friends and relatives who call
  26. Arranging for meeting relatives who call
  27. Arranging for meeting relatives who arrive from out of state at airport or railroad/bus station
  28. Providing lodging for out-of-town relatives
  29. Arranging for special religious services
  30. Check the Will regarding special wishes
  31. Order death certificate (multiple copies)
  32. Look after minor children

Notify as soon as possible

  1. The doctor or doctors
  2. The funeral director
  3. The memorial park
  4. All relatives
  5. All friends (email?)
  6. Employer of deceased
  7. Employers of relatives not going to work
  8. Casket bearers
  9. Insurance agents (life, health and accident)
  10. Religious, fraternal, civic, veterans organizations, unions
  11. Newspapers regarding notices
  12. Attorney, accountant, or executor of estate

Additional Advice

  1. Business online – user names, passwords
  2. Banking online – user names, passwords
  3. Friends online – email, passwords
  4. Distribution of personal property
  5. Advise who they can trust to advise in their absence
  6. Tell about loans receivable/bartering
  7. Know where stock certificates are located
  8. Locate “free” insurance policies from banks, credit cards, AAA
  9. Complete an Advance Directive, Do Not Resuscitate
  10. Who has access to Safe Deposit?  Where are keys?
  11. PINs for bank and other accounts
  12. Record information in something portable
  13. Discuss directions with your family
  14. Review it regularly.

Copyright Joyce Moseley Pierce 2010.  This list has been provided by Emerson Publications.  Visit http://www.emersonpublications.com or http://www.preparedineveryway.com for more information on being prepared for life and its surprises.

Categories
Emergency Responders General Preparedness Personal Stories Uncategorized

The Best Gift of the Evening

My daughter is one of those kids for whom it is always difficult to buy a gift. I say “kid,” but she is 23 years old, a Flair Bartender (think Tom Cruise in “Cocktail”) and a Paramedic. She has been self-supporting for years and as a single working woman, has the luxury of being able to buy, what she wants cash when she wants it. When her birthday came around this year, she told me she wanted a toolbox (with Sears Craftsman tools) and a 72-hour Go-Pak.

Now before you think that this is a set-up, you must realize that I am the author of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Disaster Preparedness” (www.TheCompleteIdiotsGuide2DisasterPrep.com) and my youngest child has had a 72-hour Go-Pak since he was 5 years old. My daughter’s interest was not in just any Go-Pak, but in the best one that I had reviewed while I wrote the book. As an author and researcher, I also never write product endorsements, only factual reports.

As soon as my daughter opened her gifts, the Go-Pak had everyone’s attention. The backpack was opened and everything in the Go-Pak passed around by her firefighter colleagues. The Go-Pak she received was the 1800Prepare/Guardian adult 3-day disaster kit. This kit comes in a substantial bright red backpack. The Go-Pak comes “out of the box” with everything except your important documents, prescription medications and spare clothing. I do recommend adding 2 additional chem-lite sticks and a USB data drive for photos and medical records. The 1800Prepare website (www.1800prepare.com) has a complete inventory of the items in this Go-Pak. For me, the coolest item in the kit was the “Tube Tent.” This tent does not require poles and can be used as a tarp, tent or even a rain poncho should the poncho included in the Go-Pak be lost or damaged.

My daughter got her toolbox (with tools) too. Although she loves to tinker and her firefighter friends plan to borrow her tools often (at least so they said at her party), the best gift of the evening was her 72 hour Go-Pak. Every firefighter at the party asked me where they could get one like it and plan on giving them for gifts this year.

For years, I have encouraged everyone to give 72 hour Go-Paks to every family member as a gift. I am proud to say that as the result of this one gift, one major city’s fire/rescue service will begin giving this most important gift of preparedness.