Create a Final Wishes Organizer

Richard Hilton and his wife Donna met in high school, fell in love, and were married for 53 years. They welcomed a daughter, Mandy, into the world. They were grateful to watch her grow up into an ambitious young woman with a family and career of her own.

Donna had been an artist. She always loved to paint and even sold many of her masterpieces during her life. Unfortunately, she died suddenly following complications from a needed surgery. Thus leaving behind her husband and daughter, along with her art studio and a collection of several finished, but unsold, paintings.

What Happens Without a Final Wishes Organizer

As Richard and Donna got older, they often avoided discussing what they would do if one of them died. Having been together so long, it was very painful for either of them to imagine life without the other. Unfortunately, because they put off the discussion so long, Richard had never clearly understood his wife’s end of life wishes. He remembered that they had made wills when their daughter Mandy was little in case someone should need to look after her, but he couldn’t remember what they had done with them all this time and what else Donna had decided.

Despite the shock and grief Richard and his daughter had to endure following Donna’s sudden death, they still had to muster the strength to put together a meaningful funeral service in her memory and make important decisions about how to move forward. Without any guidance from Donna’s end of life plans, Richard and Mandy struggled to plan her funeral. They had known and loved Donna well, but navigating how she would like her body handled after her death or whether she would like a traditional service or more of a celebration of life left them making big decisions on their own.

Making Decisions for Loved Ones

In the midst of their own emotional turmoil, making such important decisions without any indication that they were doing what Donna would actually have wanted was unimaginably stressful and overwhelming. Richard constantly second-guessed whether he was making the right decision, and his daughter often felt like she was letting her mother down. How come she had never talked to her mother about what she wanted at the end of her life? If Donna had left behind a final wishes organizer, it would have relieved so much stress and uncertainty from Richard and Mandy.

Being left to make even small, seemingly insignificant decisions about the service could easily lead to disagreement, confusion, and stress for Richard and Mandy. They had to decide about a funeral home, flowers, music, the eulogy, Donna’s burial location, and how her obituary should read—among other tough decisions. During a time when her family was already grieving, Donna had left them with the daunting task of planning a funeral from scratch and with the uncertainty of not knowing exactly what she would have wanted.

End of Life Planning

Not only did Richard and his daughter run into problems with planning Donna’s funeral. After the service, it became clear without a final wishes organizer, they would be running into trouble for a while. In her art studio, Donna had left several finished paintings. Throughout her life, she had sold much of her artwork to interested buyers. She even landed a couple of her paintings in small galleries. She had never left an explicit plan for how she would like her artwork handled if she were to die before she had a chance to do what she wanted with it.

Dealing with Family Disagreements

Richard and Mandy began to disagree about how Donna would want her paintings treated. Mandy assumed her mother would have wanted the paintings to be sold to help cover funeral expenses. Richard thought his wife would have wanted them donated to a local art gallery. The disagreements, fueled by mutual grief, often grew bitter and emotional. Instead of being able to grieve and process their loved one’s loss in peace, Richard and Mandy were forced to deal with the chaos of making decisions for a lost loved one with no final wishes organizer and no clear idea of what should be done.

Donna had also left behind a financial account where she stored her earnings from her art career. Over the years, she had accumulated a substantial amount. However, she left no guidelines for how she would like the money handled after her death. Richard couldn’t even find the account passwords or recent financial statements he needed to be able to close the account.

Although Donna’s death had been sudden and relatively unexpected, this kind of tragedy can strike anyone at any time. It’s always better to be prepared in case something should happen to you, especially as you get older. You don’t want to leave your family in the same position that Donna left hers.

My Family Documents Is Good News for You

The good news is that you don’t have to do that! My Family Documents can help you approach creating your own final wishes organizer. Then your loved ones will be prepared after you’re no longer here. My Family Documents provides a secure way to store important personal information, documents, and passwords in one convenient place.

Unlike other internet-based options, My Family Documents offers a physical USB flash drive, meaning your documents can’t be hacked into online. You choose where you store the flash drive to make sure it always stays in a safe place.

The flash drive is built with software designed to make organizing your personal information and documents quicker and easier. All you have to do is enter the information in the right spots, save it, and store it away for your loved ones to be able to access later. Consider including a final wishes organizer among your documents. That will help your loved ones know how you would like your funeral. They will also know what you would like done with your body. Any other important end of life information you’d like them to know can also be included.

My Family Documents Benefits

With My Family Documents, you can easily organize your final wishes. Also, your end of life plans, will, financial documents, and account passwords are kept in one secure location. It might be difficult to start thinking about some of these important decisions and final wishes. My Family Documents offers the tool you can use to keep your loved ones from having to face the stress and chaos of disorganized end of life documents.

Donna might have left her family to make stressful decisions on their own. That doesn’t have to be the story for you and your loved ones. My Family Documents can give your family the peace of mind. So that when your time comes, they are prepared and free of uncertainty.