Your Death and Post-Death Preferences

[socialjustice_fsu]

As a hospice social worker I am so pleased this is being openly talked about. Please, if you do nothing more than this it may ease not only your mind but also who might be overseeing your final arrangements: WRITE YOUR WISHES DOWN. Give a copy to someone you trust. Most physicians will even keep this info. for you in their file. I promise you...it is not good enough to simply speak your wishes. When family and friends have differing thoughts about what you 'might' want it can get terribly ugly. I could supply you with example after example of things gone awry in the face of a death.

And, take a look at advance directives in your state. Many of the forms can be downloaded in a matter of minutes. These include living wills, health care proxy statement, health care surrogate, durable power of attorney. Some will require a notary seal depending on the format. Insist your partner complete the same documents. If you assign a DPOA - keep a copy in the glove compartment - hopefully, you will never need it - but in an emergency you want to know where to look first.

As far as organ donors...most states have a registry that you can access to be sure you are actually listed. In Florida it is donatelifeflorida.com.

Please, have this discussion - outloud - and then commit it to paper.

Do this for yourself. And do it for the loved one's in your life. They will be forever grateful.