When it comes to planning ahead, most of us are pretty hopeless – and that goes double when “ahead” means “after we die”.
This year’s global pandemic seems to have changed the calculus for many, however. Research conducted by LegalZoom.com shows that 32% of people aged 18 to 34 admitted to making a will during 2020, with 21% of those having known somebody who contracted coronavirus or caught it themselves.
A will or a living trust is only part of the picture, however. Estate planning means leaving clear instructions for your survivors, and as little mess to clear up as possible.
For example, if you were to expire right now would your loved ones know where you keep your crucial paperwork? Would they be able to find your passwords and access the stuff online that they need to access in order to settle your affairs?
Would they know what to do with your cat? That’s right, we didn’t think so.
The good news is that there’s a simple solution in the form of EZ Estate, a free app that lets you leave detailed, encrypted, passcode-protected instructions for your next of kin in the event of your tragic and untimely passing.
EZ Estate allows you to break these instructions down into subcategories, nested under categories. They include Financials, Important Contacts, Personal Documents, Pets, Gifts & Personal Property, Miscellaneous, and My Funeral.
There’s even a section for outlining your debts and bills, allowing your next of kin to handle the thorny matter of your financial obligations with a minimum of fuss.
All you need to do is file your instructions under these categories, for example adding your attorney under Important Contacts, a songlist under My Funeral, and “Jenny” under Pets. There’s even a helpful spoken audio interface to guide you through the process, and reminders to keep you on track.
Leaving instructions behind for your survivors is not just the decent and mature thing to do. It’s also easy, so now you have no excuse.
Download EZ Estate for free on the App Store and Google Play.
