Dealing with end of life planning is no walk in the park. It is an emotional and sometimes difficult experience. But writing your will is not always enough to guarantee your wishes after your death.
The best way to ensure this is by talking to your family directly. But how do you broach the topic?
Give everyone time to prepare
Market Watch offers tips for bringing up your will with your family. The first thing is to make a plan to have the discussion in advance. If you try to launch the topic on your loved ones out of nowhere, they have no time to prepare themselves for a heavy talk. Many may try to bow out of it before it begins.
Also, break your discussion up into multiple parts. Your will has a lot of components involved. You want to cover everything from end of life medical care to your burial desires. You want to discuss beneficiaries, who gets what and who will carry out your wishes after your death. Instead of cramming everything into one discussion, it is better to break it up into manageable pieces.
Give people space, but do not hesitate
Accept the fact that not everyone will be able to handle this discussion. Some of your loved ones may want to tap out. Explain to them why it is important for you that they listen. If they continue to refuse involvement, try not to force the matter. It may only increase tensions and make communicating in the future harder than it needs to be.
Finally, do not wait. No one wants to think about their own death, but life is unpredictable. The sooner you have your end of life plans in order, the better. And better still if you tell your loved ones about it soon, too.
