Death Wishes

[jrising]

It's best to write up one's final wishes (living will (especially), legal will, funeral service details (if you want)) before actually dying. And it was one of my 101/1001 goals, so here's a pass at them: Death Wishes.

I'm not worrying about making a proper legal document, at least until I have more valuable stuff. Am I missing anything important? Have you taken a different approach to doing this?

Comments

[revolos55.livejournal.com]

Mine's pretty similar. What to do with my body, music I'd like played, stuff I'd like read, passwords to various accounts online. I was more specific about the dispensation of wordly goods, or at least nominating people who would know what to do with individual items under general headings like sci-fi and SCA and such.

[jrising.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I suppose it is pretty important to at least say who decides where things go. Did you do anything clever to protect/hide your passwords before kicking the bucket?

[revolos55.livejournal.com]

No, I just have a document called "In the Event of My Death", and the passwords are written in there. I don't really know any clever tech stuff like what you mentioned.

[jdub0014.livejournal.com]

That's interesting - I never thought about the whole password thing. It's weird to think that after you die, your LiveJournal will still be floating around. (You = universal "you")

Also, the idea of being cremated terrifies me. Though it seems to be a popular option for many people. What's the appeal of it for you?

[jrising.livejournal.com]

Two appeals, neither having to do with the process of being cremated. First, the alternative has me smelling up some spot in a cemetery for a hundred years at added cost to my relatives (or whoever). It seems like an imposition on the living to try to give such royal treatment to a ball of dead flesh. What's left behind after I die doesn't mean much to me. But if there such a thing as a soul, and if it is attached to this fugly container of mine, then it's sort of a final spiritual journey to have my ashes scattered. I feel like my whole life is a kind of waiting-for-death, when I finally get to be one with the universe (maybe), and cremation and scattering is a way to kick me out the door.

[girlygothic.livejournal.com]

This is something I've actually been working on for a while, off-and-on.

Topics/ideas I have in my notes that aren't mentioned in your document (or other people's comments to this post) that you may or may not care about...

* Treatment of my remains before cremation.
* I made sure family members have keys to my apartment.
* Instructions to family members in the case that I'm not dead, but unable (ill or stranded) to tend to certain aspects of my life (particularly semi-automated financial stuff).
* Instructions for how to deal with any commitments I've made.
* List of what assets (both tangible and intangible) can be found where.
* List of what assets are in my possession that aren't mine.

[jrising.livejournal.com]

I wanted to say, I'm definitely going to add a bunch of these to my document! But, I'm going to wait until my affects in Cambridge are in their new home.

[kjcitygirl.livejournal.com]

when the whole terry shivo (sp?) thing went down, I actually created a living will through my parents' attorney b/c i didn't want to be kept alive if on life support for that length of time. it looks very similar to yours, only i appointed certain possessions to certain people and went into a little bit more detail about the funeral service itself. you kept yours nice and open, allowing people to celebrate your life in their own way, but i am very curious about the whole "ask me a question and i will answer it" thing - maybe it was because i skimmed over the document (as i am at work) but i wasn't quite clear - are the people supposed to write their question on food and then consume it? or are you going to consume it before you die? i was just a bit confused. other than that i think it is a fantastic thing to have all of your wishes spelled out.

[jrising.livejournal.com]

They consume it. As long as I can still breathe, it's easy to answer questions. I figure, if I'm still able to communicate things after I die, I can probably also figure out what you wrote after you eat it. I'll try to make that more clear.

[truered.livejournal.com]

You know, it's really not too much effort to make it legal if you don't have enough assets to make it complicated. I can help you with it if you want (totally free, just as a friend and not as official firm-lawyer-me).

You can write down whatever you want but no one actually has to honor any of it unless it's legal.

[jrising.livejournal.com]

That's an incredible offer! I don't know how I feel about using you for your professional skills because we're friends, though. I found out that there are sites that have fill-in-the-blank legal forms, including wills specific to each state (and instructions on printing and signing them correctly and all). Do you know if those are solid, or would you suggest something different? If I use one of them, can I get you to look it over when I'm done with any changes I made?

[truered.livejournal.com]

Forms online are ok, and will probably work at least for what you need. But you should definitely let me look it over.
It's really no trouble... Trusts and Estates is actually the thing I'm most interested in and for people who are unmarried with no kids it's easy.

[truered.livejournal.com]

Just to clarify, when I say the online forms are "ok" I don't mean that as a good thing. They're better than nothing, and can be useful as a starting point, but I don't trust them.

[siderea]

If I am insane beyond reach, I wish to be set free in a vast wilderness (cost permitting).

No, no you don't. Just take my word on that. If you're insane beyond reach, you want a padded room, plentiful food and a limitless supply of really good drugs.