Building on (and embracing) what I have written above, have a go at the following quiz. If you can answer Yes to all or at least a clear majority of these questions, insofar as they apply to you, you are doing pretty well. But, in any case, reading my book Your Last Gift – Getting your Affairs in Order and taking the action I recommend should stand you and those close to you in good stead.
1. Are your relationships with those close to you as good as they can be, with no need for any reconciliation or forgiveness, whether offered or received?
2. Have you done what you can under the laws of your home country to protect yourself and your property in case of your mental incapacity, e.g. by appointing an Attorney?
3. Have you put in writing your wishes on any medical treatment and care in case of a terminal illness, e.g. ‘do not resuscitate’?
4. Have you taken steps to provide for any dependants (minor children or elderly relatives) or pets in the event of your death?
5. If you don’t want any of your organs to be donated after your death, have you recorded your decision on the NHS Organ Donation Register?
6. Have you provided all the information and documents necessary to obtain a death certificate?
7. Do you have a valid and up-to-date Will?
8. Have you set out a clear record with contact details of those to notify of your death (whether family, friends, advisers or colleagues), by what means and in what order?
9. Have you written down your preferred funeral arrangements?
10. Is there an available record of the passwords to all your digital assets?
11. If you are one of a couple and the first to go, have you together ensured that the survivor could manage financially?
12. If you have responsibilities in a business (whether as a sole trader, partner or director of a company) or in a charity or club, have you explained clearly in writing what you do? And have you told others and made any necessary succession arrangements?
13. Have you left and updated a list of what you own and how that property/those assets are to be accessed, including any insurance policies immediately after your death?
14. Have you left clear instructions to those close to you on how they should sort your personal possessions and things about your home once you are no longer about?
15. Have you had conversations, leaving a record and any guidance in writing, with people such as Attorneys, Guardians, Executors (or testamentary agents) and business/charity/club associates?
16. Have you taken action to estimate the Inheritance Tax prospectively payable on your death, possibly mitigating the impact where possible and to provide for payment?
17. Have you taken account of any foreign tax or procedural implications for any assets you may own outside your home country – or indeed for beneficiaries resident in another country?
18. Are you taking active steps to spend time with those who are close to you?
19. Have you written letters (to be delivered after your death) and perhaps made gifts to those people of possessions that they will value?
20. Whether or not you are actively religious, have you given thought to what you think about God and life beyond the here and now?
