The legal admin of death
When it comes to speaking about death, often we’d just rather not. Or we pretty up the conversation with hilarious euphemisms like “when she’s popping daisies” or “he’ll kick the bucket one day”. The old saying “there’s nothing quite as sure as death and income tax” is a saying for a reason, but speaking about and preparing for death is something we seem to avoid at all costs.
To our collective detriment, we’d argue differently.
When Sinal and I met, I was designing a Web App called LifeFile. LifeFile would help everyday people to collect, store and share all of the things that their loved ones would need if they die. We say if they die but what we really mean is when. LifeFile has shifted down a bit in our product pipeline, but the conversations it brings up remain as important and relevant.
Finding a way to make the legal admin of dying easier was something I fell into quite by accident. After a few very sad deaths in their greater social network, my mom phoned to say that she felt really worried about navigating the legal aspects of my dad’s death one day. (Assuming she didn’t meet her maker first). She’d seen firsthand the devastating tightrope that people in her extended community were walking between 1. finding space to grieve their spouse and 2. overseeing the wrapping up of their estates. We discussed how important it was, as a family, to collectively get our “ducks in a row”. Being who I am, I took it to the extreme and started designing a Web App to solve the problem.
So what is a LifeFile?
We describe a LifeFile as a folder of all the important life stuff that your loved ones will need one day when you die. Having an organised LifeFile is also important for all sorts of other dreadful life things - accidents, emergencies, serious sickness, natural disasters - when you need stuff at your fingertips.
What goes into a LifeFile?
Our big ol’ LifeFile checklist started with the list of legal things required by the Master of the High Court to wrap up the estate of anyone who dies. When people die, what they leave behind is “wrapped up” by the State and goes through a standardised process to get finalised. Your LifeFile should contain all of the things that your loved ones will need when they’re trying to get your estate wound up one day. We’ve got a checklist for you to download that goes into the nitty gritty, but it includes things like:
your original Last Will & Testament
your life policies
a list of your assets
a list of your creditors
your bank accounts
What is the point of getting your ducks in a row?
The people left behind when you die one day are the people who’ll be dealing with wrapping up your estate. The more organised your LifeFile, the easier you make that process for your loved ones. No one wants to be scratching around for laptop passwords or trying to guess who the life insurance policy is with during their moments of grief.
A LifeFile also helps your loved ones navigate the inevitable phone calls from creditors and lawyers trying to tie up their own loose ends, and can ease the financial burdens that will follow as well - there’s no point having a funeral policy when no one else knows it exists but you
How do you start a LifeFile?
With a few deep breaths. Maybe some tea. Maybe a stiff drink. We’ve put together a checklist that goes through the legal, financial, medical and personal categories that you should be considering when you create and maintain your LifeFile. We can’t promise it’ll be a fun process, but the worst part will be starting.
A burden shared is a burden halved, so why not get your friends, family or even colleagues to start the process with you.
As always, we're here to help if you come unstuck.