5. What could one do if one's parents are dead?
Answers
Answer:
HERE YOUR ANSWER
Explanation:
There is a lot you can do now that will ease your way later when it happens.
1. Write their obituary now. Of course, you needn't actually write it out, but gather all the information that a regular obit has, such as schools attended, degrees earned, the year of graduation, what they did for a living, what businesses they worked for or owned, accurate birthdays, and names of all their siblings and their parents as far back as you can get. All this is basic family information that you should have in one place. Your children and grandchilden will be grateful that you put it down on paper.
2. If you aren't 100% sure, ask them what they want for the funeral ceremony -- cremation or burial? What items should be buried or burned with them, what clothes. Do they want flowers? If so, what kind? Music? Try to get them to be as specific as possible, but of course be sensitive and don't try to press matters. If they don't want to talk about it, leave it.
3. Financial matters. Ask them to put all their financial papers in one place so that if something should happen, you can access it all directly. Talk to an estate attorney to make sure that you their estate passes with as little taxes as possible.
4. There are personal items that they own, like rings, jewelry, photos, furniture, family heirlooms, souvenirs. Find out who should get what. Ask them why, and how they got this object, and what it means to them. Every personal object has a story behind it, and they will want to tell you, and they will have a specific person in mind who should get it. Insure that it does when the time comes, and that the person gets the whole story behind the object as well.
5. You need a complete and uptodate list of all their friends and relatives with accurate contact information. When the time comes, you don't want to have to scramble around trying to notify everyone. Have all that information in a database that you can easily access.
6. Bottomline: Get as much information from them as possible while they are still alive. Find out all their preferences as to inheritances and the funeral ceremony itself, down to what food to serve. When it happens, someone has to make all these hundreds of decisions quickly, and it will be you. The more you now their preferences, the easier it is for you. Trust me, I"ve been there.