What Happens When You Die

Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely. - Buddha

While you are heading toward the bright light, those you leave behind are left to clean up any mess you leave behind after you die. Things are pretty difficult emotionally as it is when somebody dies. Hopefully, you will be considerate enough to help those you leave behind by doing some basic estate planning.

Leaving the emotional aspect out of it, a lot of what happens initially after you die is very ritualistic and mechanical in nature. For example, funeral, religious service, and burial arrangements must be made. Family, friends, and acquaintances of the deceased must be contacted. Condolences are given and received.

Did You Know? Many funeral-related functions can be ironed out well in advance as part of your estate planning process. There are some specialized estate planning firms that handle this softer or "touchy-feely" side of the planning process (for a substantial fee, of course). Without getting too morbid, it really shouldn't be that hard to informally let your family know about your desired funeral arrangements. For those that are really conscientious, you can shop around in advance for funeral and burial arrangements. Beware, though, of any prepaid funeral arrangements, which may end up fleecing you as badly as some car leasing contracts.

As for your estate, somebody will formally or informally end up handling your estate. Hopefully, the bulk of your assets will transfer automatically by a probate avoidance technique. If not, the estate must go through probate, where any assets will transfer according to the provisions of your will or, if no will was made, according to state intestate succession laws. Along the way, the person handling the estate will have to pay any related probate costs and pay off the deceased's bills, creditors, and estate taxes (if any).