Steps to Funeral Planning

The sensitive subject of planning for your funeral is an area most people want to avoid, we offer the much needed help and support to make the process easier.

There are many reasons why you decide to plan your funeral and the most important one is to make sure the family knows your every wish for the funeral and how your life can be celebrated.

It will allow you to enjoy the rest of your life having the peace of mind that everything is in order.

All your wishes will be listed and available in a treasured journal, all your personal wishes will be available for your family to follow and it will prevent family arguments and they follow everything you want.

In certain instances where you have no family the journal will be passed to your friends and carers to make sure all the wishes are followed.

The journal once produced will cover all the essential areas including practical instructions to make sure your full estate is administered by the executors in the best and most sensible way and reducing any areas of indecision.

This document will sit next to your Will with the Solicitor and be available to your family and friends on your passing.

During the meeting we can discuss your thoughts and decide what you may want to happen. You can plan the type of funeral, discuss the benefits of a pre-paid funeral plan, explain why it is necessary to have a Will and look at other legal services, offer financial advice from our independent financial advisor, make a choice about flowers or donations, define your own personal funeral service, plan a receptions to celebrate your life and lots more.

The meeting will allow you to list down lots of answers to a number of key questions which you may not have been considered essential but will support your plans and wishes and help your family and friends when you pass on.

Sample Questions:

What type of funeral service, Religious or Humanist?

Pre Funeral gathering?

Poetry, Quotes, Readings (Be conscious that a eulogy will be read, you may want to choose the people in advance and the content)?

Music: Live or Recorded (This is linked to the funeral theme) Do you want a choir, instruments or a singer (all or part)?

The location of the Will (home, lawyer, accountant?) Let someone know where it is stored

Who are the executors? (Their names, addresses, telephone/mobile number, email addresses)

Do you have a Bank Vault?

The combination of your House Safe?

Where is your outside Storage unit?

What is the name of your Pension provider?

Insurance documents are filed where? There are many questions we ask in order to have a complete understanding of your wishes and we list all the practical details to support the estate management.

We will produce a comprehensive document and arrange the secure storage of the journal with your solicitor or family. We can also securely store in our offices, if required. The Funeral Planning Journal is a document which will serve as your Letter of Wishes, and offer your family and executors complete clarity at a time when they will be stressed and needing assistance.

Always allow time to the finish all the answers to the important questions and re-visit if more time is required.

In our experience we know this will help your loved ones find the answers to all those important questions as they make arrangements.

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Hugh O'Brien http://www.funeralplanner.co/ EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hugh_O'Brien

Meet The Man With A Plan For Your Loved Ones' Funeral

It's not a day many people want to think about let alone plan for, unless you are Hugh O’Brien, the north west’s first funeral planner.

Hugh opened Funeral Planning Solutions, which he runs from his home on Stanley Grove, Heaton Moor, after being made redundant from his job as a logistics manager.

The 50-year-old hit upon the idea after his aunt died and her service did not run smoothly as it had been arranged at the last minute.

Now he can arrange anything from the church music and wake buffet to organising for the deceased’s coffin to arrive at the church on a motorbike sidecar.

Mr O’Brien, a father of two, said: "I am like a wedding planner but for funerals.

"And this is even more important.

"Your wedding is just one day but overall the impact of a funeral is greater.

"Around 600,000 people a year die in this country but 70 per cent don’t have a will or make the necessary arrangements.

"People just don’t like thinking about the fact that they’re not going to be around forever.

"I leave it up to the individual, the service can be as traditional or extreme as people want.

"Whatever people request I can make happen."

As part of his service, Mr O’Brien offers will-making, the organisation of the whole funeral day as well as the clearance and disposal of the deceased person’s possessions if required.

He works alongside his wife Lesley, 48, and the business has now been running a month.

Mr O’Brien said: "Obviously there are other funeral directors or people who make wills but I am the only person who does the whole lot in the north west.

"When you tell people what you do the reaction varies from ‘that’s a bit ghoulish’ to that’s a good idea.

"Lots of people has a story of going to a funeral that went wrong. That’s what I help avoid."


www.FuneralPlanner.co


menmedia.co.uk/stockportexpress/news/s/1408984_meet_the_man_with_a_plan__for_your_loved_ones_funerals

Funeral Planning Journal

The sensitive subject of planning for your funeral is an area most people want to avoid, we offer the much needed help and support to make the process easier.

There are many reasons why you decide to plan your funeral  and the most important one is to make sure the family knows your every wish for the funeral and how your life can be celebrated.

It will allow you to enjoy the rest of your life having the peace of mind that everything is in order.

All your wishes will be listed and available in a treasured journal, all your personal wishes will be available for your family to follow and it will prevent family arguments and  they follow everything you want.

In certain instances where you have no family the journal will be passed to your friends and carers to make sure all the wishes are followed.

The journal we produce will cover all the essential areas including practical instructions to make sure your full estate is administered by the executors in the best and most sensible way and reducing any areas of indecision.

This document will sit next to your Will with the Solicitor and be available to your family and friends on your passing.

During our meeting we can discuss your thoughts and decide what you may want to happen. We can plan the type of funeral, discuss the benefits of a pre-paid funeral plan, explain why it is necessary to have a Will and look at other legal services, offer financial advice from our independent financial advisor, make a choice about flowers or donations, define your own personal funeral service, plan a receptions to celebrate your life and lots more.

The meeting will allow you to list down lots of answers to a number of key questions which you may not have been considered essential but will support your plans and wishes and help your family and friends when you pass on.

          Sample Questions:

•     What type of funeral service, Religious or Humanist?
•   Pre Funeral gathering?
•   Poetry, Quotes, Readings (Be conscious that a eulogy will be read, you may want to choose the people in advance and the content)?
•   Music: Live or Recorded (This is linked to the funeral theme) Do you want a choir, instruments or a singer (all or part)?
•   The location of the Will (home, lawyer, accountant?) Let someone know where it is stored
•   Who are the executors? (Their names, addresses, telephone/mobile number, email addresses)
•   Do you have a Bank Vault?
•   The combination of your House Safe?
•   Where is your outside Storage unit?
•   What is the name of your Pension provider?
•   Insurance documents are filed where?

There are many questions we ask in order to have a complete understanding of your wishes and we list all the practical details to support the estate management. We will produce a comprehensive  document and arrange the secure storage of the journal with your solicitor or family. We can also securely store in our offices, if required.

The Funeral Planning Journal is a document which will serve as your Letter of Wishes, and offer your family and executors complete clarity at a time when they will be stressed and needing assistance.

We will sit with you and give you time to the finish all the answers to the important questions and will arrange further visits if more time is required.

In our experience we know this will help your loved ones find the answers to all those important questions as they make arrangements.



You Can't Take It With You: Episode 5

How do you decide to leave your business to the family?

Hans and Anna have six children, five sons live in the UK and one daughter lives in New Zealand, Their family Garden Centre business has been recently valued at £4 Million and is based in two locations. Three of the sons are currently involved in the business whilst the other two run their own operations.

Nev and Alan have two children, a son and a daughter. Their family Land Management business has a recent price tag of £3 Million. Their son works in the business and their daughter who lives 100 miles away is a school teacher.

Hans and Anna are both getting on and have reached their 80's and a decision is rather urgent but they just can't decide. The indecision is now hurting the business as it is now drifting and certain sections are losing money. The three sons who work in the business offer no true leadership skills and have offered loyalty, hard work but little else.

Gerry sets out to meet the rest of the children in the UK.

Nev and Alan's children have very clear opinions on what to do with their inheritance. Damian wants the business to go into a trust which will allow him to grow it for future generations. The daugher Vashti wants her share and feels placing the estate into a trust shows a last of respect to her.

Nev and Alan want complete fairness but also don't want to put the business at risk so they feel placing the business in a trust is the best solution.

Gerry arranges for the meeting with Sue Medder to offer advice to both couples.

Hans and Anna agree that the estate should be placed in equal shares  for the children but cannot decide who will be Managing Director amongst the sons. They are sent away to make a decision about the MD role. Gerry points out that the decision of MD should be immediate to secure the current business status and allow the business to flourish.

Nev and Alan have their meeting and still feel a trust is the best solution though this is clearly unfair on their daughter.

Gerry arranges for the family debates over dinner with Hans and Anna sitting with their five sons to discuss options. The boys generally disagree until Antony, a middle son, shows his hand and says he is happy to move from his existing business and take control, Antony throughout the show has demonstrated the most business sense and he is also the diplomat.His offers does go down well with his other siblings and parents.

During the Nev and Alan family debate Damian says very little as I suspect he feels he is in the box seat. However Vashti makes it very clear that the decision to put the estate in a Trust is unfair and it certainly shows how controlling their parents will remain even after their death. She challenges her Mother about having a similar role to her in the family business which certainly struct a nerve and challenged her current position in respect of the Will. Alan said very little other than it should be 50/50 but it is clear that the parents were closer to Damian. Vashti tells them she does not want an inheritance she cannot spend. This clearly affects her Mum, Nev.

The final meetings arec arranged with Sue Medder and Gerry.

Hans and Anna have acted quickly and installed Antony as MD and the business is now in better hands. They split the business into six equal shares and state that Antony will remain as MD after they die.

Nev and Alan arrive and Nev does the talking and initially says she wants it in a Trust but with no rules attached. This is discussed but Sue highlights that no clarity will exist and it would end in dispute. Gerry adds that this would be a very uncomfortable position for both children.

Nev suddenly changes her mind and decides it should be a direct split 50/50 and no Trust. Alan nods in agreement.

Before Nev changes her mind again the Wills are produced and they both sign.

My gut feeling says this is not the final outcome and these Wills may change again one day.

This episode wants again highlights estate issues and how difficult the decisions can be without communication.

How many other business owners are in the same position and don't make a decision leaving behind a real mess.

Next week's final episode will highlight issues within families when certain siblings are disabled or need extra support and attention.

Tune into BBC2 on Friday for the last episode.

You can't take it with you, but you can ensure who has it

An increasing number of people are needing more complicated Wills, in line with those currently being featured in the BBC 2 programme 'Can’t Take it With You', says Francis Durrant of Barr Ellison Solicitors in Cambridge, making it all the more worrying that 70% of people die without making a Will. 

 

“People wanting to leave money to charity or to leave uneven amounts to different relatives and people who are delaying writing a Will because they undecided how to divide their estate are some of the issues featured in the programme and we ourselves are seeing an increasing number where the Will is not straight forward.

Whatever people have to leave it’s important that they write a Will to ensure their estate is left with the people they want to leave it to and they don’t pay any unnecessary tax.”

Reasons why people are increasingly having more complicated Wills include the increase in couples cohabiting rather than marrying, more complicated trust provisions and more people having second marriages. “It is particularly important for unmarried couples to make Wills because they do not have the protections you automatically receive as a married couple,” says Francis. “Also trust provisions can be put in place that can actually end up saving tax and second or subsequent marriages obviously make Wills a lot more complicated.

People are also concerned about the possible remarriage of a survivor and how that would affect what they leave to loved ones. And even if people believe they have very straight forward requirements, with people living much longer they need to think about protecting funds against the increasing cost of long term care.”

Francis believes that it is often the fact that a Will is likely to be complicated that puts people off taking the plunge: “If people are worried about who should receive what or how they should go about it they should remember that any difficult decisions they have to make are likely to be far easier than leaving family with the stress of them dying intestate.”

 

It’s also important, he says, to remember to keep a Will updated to take into account any changes in beneficiaries’ needs and a person’s financial and personal circumstances. 

http://www.funeralplans.co/

You Can't Take It With You: Episode 4

Sir Gerry Robinson meets two couples facing tough decisions over what will happen to their children in the event of their deaths.

Sarah who has two daughters by different fathers. Sarah has recently married and wants her new husband Jason to take care of both girls if she dies but is really concerned that the father,Matthew,of her first daughter will want to separate the sisters as he will insist on custody if such an tragedy occurs.

The second family has Ian who is a Doctor and part time polar adventurer, and together with his wife Becky have been unable to write their wills because they can not agree on whose parents would be best to bring up their three young daughters. They both believe their own parents should take on the role,but the two sets of grandparents are very different and Becky can only consider her Mother.

Sarah clearly has issues with her ex partner and is determined to receives guarantees and really wants her own way. Jason is clearly in a difficult position and finds the whole subject very emotional. Matthew currently sees his daughter every other Saturday and would like to see her more.

Sarah and Jason meet the specialist lawyer Sue Medder who explains that following Sarah's death her ex partner and father of her eldest daughter has the rights, in law,to gain custody. This seems unfair in her eyes but one suspects she has come to this position without considering how her daughter and ex partner feel.

Jason clearly understands the situation and is happy to take on the responsibility of both children with involvement from Matthew. Sue Medder makes it clear that even if Sarah states in her Will that she wants Jason to have guardianship of her daughter, Matthew has every right to challenge and would probably win as he is the paternal father. The couple are asked to go away and consider their position.

Becky and Ian review both their positions. Becky has her mind made up and only wants her Mother and her partner Tony to move into the £1 Million house and take care of the children;whereas Ian is looking for a compromise and angling for shared guardianship between borh sets of Grandparents.

The meeting with Sir Gerry Robinson and Sue Medder opens up the discussion and suggests that joint guardianship is available but not always practical. Sir gerry also points out that both sets of Grandparents don't have much in common and are unlikely to agree in a number of areas which would suggest further conflict.

Becky and Ian call a family dinner to bring all interested parties together to allow discussion and throw open all the options. The dinner highlighted the lack of genuine friendship between both Grandparents but they all agreed in the importance of finding a decision to benefit the children. The key argument against joint guardianship was the daily issues of bringing up the children. Ian was keen to point out that he would really want to offer quite a strong "Letter of Wishes" to encourage a life of adventure for his daughters.

The dinner between Sarah, Jason, Matthew and his new partner Nicole was a little tense at first but saw Matthew being honest yet genuinely practical about the issue. It was clear that the break up in the earlier relationship was not good and it emerged that Matthew does have certain anger issues. Jason and Matthew share a common desire that the girls would need to stay together which was supported by Nicole but seemed to take Sarah by surprise.

I felt that Matthew was certainly trying to repair any earlier issues and expressed a real desire to see more of his daughter and be happy to work with Sarah and Jason.

The decision day loomed for both couples as they planned their trip back to London to speak to Sue Medder.

Ian and Becky had reached agreement as Ian had compromised. He shifted his position and agreed to let Becky's Mother become the guardian of the children allowing her and partner Tony to move into the family home. Ian was going to prepare his "Letter of Wishes" which his parents would support as well as supporting the upbringing of the Grandchildren. They signed their Wills.

Sarah and Jason arrived in London reassured by their meeting with Matthew and Nicole. They signed their Wills with the wish that the children stay together. In the event that Jason was to also pass away then the eldest daughter would go to the paternal Father and the youngest to Sarah's sister. It was also agreed that Matthew should gain more access to see his daughter while everyone was alive.

It is clear with all these shows that communication has a positive impact on all family members and lots of issues emerge which effect current lives as well as lives following a death.

Next week the tricky subject of how do you deal with your business when you die.

It should be interesting.