End of Life Planning – Helen’s Plan

What to do with the belongings of someone who’s passed.

Assets have been distributed and cherished belongings have been claimed, now it’s time to decide what to do with your loved ones remaining possessions. You decide when they go and you decide where they go. But it’s important to note that not everything is going to find a new home, and you don’t need to feel guilty about that.

Truth is, society is returning to a minimalist lifestyle. Some furnishings and items like trinkets, flatware, and crystal bowls aren’t as widely used as they once were. In other words, you’re right to dispose of your late aunt’s floral-printed davenport and you’re right not to feel shameful about it. Odds are she wouldn’t have cared as much as you think, and she certainly doesn’t now.

While some unclaimed items will have a clear forthcoming, some shouldn’t be that simple. If any of the remaining furnishings or items are believed to hold value, visit a pawn shop, consult an antique dealer, or get them appraised. You’ll want to do this for high-end furnishings and things like jewelry, artwork, china, crystal, or flatware. Note that it can take time to find parties interested in these types of pieces.

A simple search can contribute specific items to online marketplaces, while nearby consignment shops and public libraries make great places for local donations. Hosting a yard sale also keeps your loved one’s remaining possessions in your community and provides the opportunity to donate the funds to a charity in their name.

As we age, there’s always opportunity to downsize our possessions. Offer to help declutter your loved one’s belongings at certain stages in their life, like as they enter retirement or plan to move. This will help prepare for the future and also allow you to gather the stories behind heirlooms or items they cherish that should be held onto.

Why everyone should have an end-of-life plan in place.

Helen Claire Edwards Portz was an excellent organizer. She was a selfless wife, mother, and friend, a talented quilter and gardener who passed unexpectedly a few years after her husband.

Following Helen’s passing, her family worked to coordinate her end-of-life plans, close out their parents’ affairs and unravel all the pieces of their life they had spent so many years building, a process that can take families anywhere from a few months to a few years to settle.

Having your life’s details in place when you pass lifts the burden of decision-making off your family and loved ones, and gives them time to freely grieve and find closure in a healthy way – a gift you can give with Helen’s Plan.

Helen’s Plan is an easy-to-use, comprehensive tool that gives your family access to the information they need to close your affairs and streamline end-of-life responsibilities. As we age, more and more pieces of our lives get intertwined. Helen’s Plan provides a safe place for those complexities and details to be archived, secured, and encrypted, ensuring your data is safe and accessible to only the family and friends of your choice, at the levels you choose.

From billing, insurance and banking information to passwords, funeral arrangements and pet care, Helen’s Plan archives the details of your life at the pace you enter them and prepares those details into an easy-to-follow checklist that will help your family navigate their end-of-life responsibilities when they need it most.

Whatever your life may look like, Helen’s Plan is for anyone wanting to have their affairs in order, for themselves and their loved ones. It’s for people who are married, people who have children, people who are single or in the beginning stages of a relationship, people in excellent health and those at the end stages of life. It’s for people who want a place for their life’s plans.