WorldWide Drilling Resource

65 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® MARCH 2015 Checklist Preparing for When the Unexpected Happens The time you lose someone you love, is no time to be pressured. Hopefully, this will help you through that time. And remember, don’t be afraid to speak with your loved ones to learn what their desires are – and preplan with a “Living Will”. Many of us have lost loved ones and found ourselves in a whirlwind of paperwork. We hadn’t even had suf- ficient time to grieve before phone calls, e-mails, and mail deliveries smacked us in the face, bringing us back to reality. A few of us lost our dear husbands in 2014 and were faced with this dilemma. Although we had legal and banking experience, we were not sufficiently prepared. Hopefully, this Checklist will help those who may find themselves, family members, or even friends in the same situation when the unexpected happens. ___RELIGIOUS NEEDS: Depending on the faith of the deceased or the family, it is very important this need be met. In our cases, at our request, the hospital contacted a Catholic priest to administer the sacrament of healing and anointing. Believe us, this is a very important step for closure. ___FUNERAL HOME: If you’re close to retirement, you may already have a pre-need plan with your local funeral home. If not, don’t be afraid to compare costs before committing; they can vary by thousands of dollars. Besides the cost factor, choose a compassionate director, who is willing to spend time to explain services and costs. The funeral home is one of the first to be contacted to remove the deceased from the place of death. ___OBITUARY: Don’t be afraid to write the obituary yourself, especially if it was your spouse, child, parent, or other relative who passed. Who better knew the deceased? Your funeral home should then send it onto the newspapers print and/or online you request. ___FUNERAL SERVICE – TRADITIONAL vs. CREMATION: If this matter wasn’t already decided by the deceased, you will have to make the decision; all funeral homes offer either service. ___Costs: Burial/Cremation: Some of those include embalming and a casket for burial or an urn to hold the cremains in the event of cremation, burial plot, mausoleum, or vault; extra charges may consist of book registers including memorial cards and thank-you notes; death certificates (start with 6), and newspaper obituaries. Remember, YOU can choose which, if any, newspapers you want the obituary to appear in; and regular print or online editions; and even which state(s) you want it to appear in. It is YOUR decision. Most of these “extras” are voluntary. Choose what “you” want – don’t feel pressured. ___Service for Deceased: There are many to choose from; those with a viewing include extra charges for embalming. Memorial service at a funeral home, usually have an extra charge for using their facility. Memorial services held elsewhere, usually no extra charge, but a donation is appropriate. Two husbands had been volunteers for a rural fire department and the Elks Lodge; Joyful Celebrations of Life were held at those centers. If the deceased had been a member of a service organi- zation; i.e., VFW, AM-Vets, or a community organization, that would be a good place to gather with family and friends to pay tribute to the deceased. Home memorials are becoming more and more common these days, where friends can bring finger foods to be served with punch (or something a little stronger) giving those attending a chance to intermingle with other attendees and family members to recall fond memories of the deceased. You can have both the formal and the informal. Again, it’s your decision. Don’t forget to send thank-you notes, provided by the funeral home, to those sending plants, floral arrangements, food, etc. ___SOCIAL SECURITY: They will be notified by the funeral director and you will receive a letter with a toll-free number to call to set up a teleconference call. You won’t even have to leave your home and it’s amazing all the information they already have in their computer system. The only thing we had to send was a certified marriage certificate, proving we were wed to the deceased for at least ten years, which was returned in a timely manner. Believe it or not, it was one of the easiest and least complicated bits of paperwork we encountered. If you’re a widow/widower collecting social security and it is less than your spouse received, you will receive the difference, which will become part of your monthly allotment. However, if you remarry, the extra money will cease and the monthly benefit will revert back to your eligibility. If you are the surviving spouse, you may be entitled to a one-time allotment of $255 to help defray funeral expenses. This amount will automatically be deposited into your bank account along with a month’s allotment. ___PROCESSING LIFE/ACCIDENT INSURANCE CLAIMS OWNED BY THE DECEASED: Check your safe deposit box or wherever you keep legal documents. See who is listed as benefi- ciary; if that person is deceased, most insurance companies send the monies to the estate of the deceased. If the beneficiary is still living, they will have to process the claim. You can contact the insurance company by phone and they will tell you to download the claim form from their Web site, or they will mail it to you. Checklist cont’d on page 66.