Last week, I wrote about how your digital assets are more than just social media. This week is all about dealing with those assets after you die. In the old days before the internet, finding a person’s assets was not so difficult. If you were the executor, you would...
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Funeral planning
Death doulas
I came across this fascinating article the other day about a new trend call death doulas or death midwives. Essentially, this is a person who helps families navigate through the many and complex decisions that must be made toward the end of a loved one’s life, up...
A bit of resurrection
Vincent Bright was recently sentenced to probation for stealing his father's body out of a Detroit cemetery. The reason he stole the body was his belief that he could resurrect his father through his religious beliefs. He placed his father in his freezer at home; it...
Have a coffee with your discussion of dying
Have you ever heard of a death café? Neither had I, until I read this article at the Globe and Mail last week. Basically, they are informal gatherings – sometimes at coffee shops, sometimes in people’s homes – where a small group can get together, enjoy tea and...
Making funeral planning easier
Back in June, I wrote a post called "Can you afford to die?" After publishing it, I was contacted by Sandra Bento from the Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services, who offered me a great deal of information on what the provincial government is doing to assist Ontarians...
Protect your assets – and your body
It's a very poorly known fact, but in Ontario, your executor becomes the owner of your body at the moment of your death. Morbid, yes. But that is how it is here. I speak to so many people who don't see the need to have their wills done because they don't have...
Can you afford to die?
I came across this fascinating, if a bit morbid, infographic today. Essentially, it strips funeral, cremation and other burial services down to their basic costs. I think what I found most interesting was the extreme rise in funeral costs from an average of $709 in...
Time for some economy
The New York Times published an article a little while ago about how the economic downturn has led to a rise in less expensive burial options. According to the Times, cremation has moved from almost nonexistent 50 years ago to the norm, encompassing over 40% of all...
Tax breaks for space burials
Here's a new one: the state of Virginia is considering offering a tax break for anyone who agrees to have their cremated remains sent into space. The state is looking to increase revenues for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, and is considering tax breaks as a...
This tech startup is deadly
Gerry Beyer at the Wills, Trusts and Estates Prof Blog posted last week about a very intriguing new tech startup: I-Postmortem. I-Postmortem runs two services. The first, I-Tomb, costs $50 annually, and lets you create a virtual cemetery. You can upload photos,...