Spooky season is just around the corner… Pumpkins are appearing on doorsteps, skeletons and ghosts are popping up on your neighbours’ front lawns.
From Halloween movies to haunted houses, many of us love a good scare at this time of year. If estate planning falls into the spooky category for you—we get it.
We’ve rounded up 4 tips to make estate planning feel a bit less tricky and a little more treat this Halloween.
1. Gather your favourite ghosts and ghouls
While everyone needs their own will, it doesn’t necessarily mean that estate planning needs to be a one person affair. One of the best ways to make the process less haunting this Halloween is to gather your friends and family to make your wills together.
Not only will you get to have important conversations, but you’ll be able to spend some quality time with your loved ones!
Be the ghostest with the mostest. Here’s why estate planning is better with friends and family →
2. Hocus focus on the conversations
One of the first and most important steps in estate planning is having the conversation with your loved ones. Yet only 47% of Canadians discuss it with their friends and family—talk about scary!
The best way to avoid unanswered questions and disputes is to ensure you make your end-of-life wishes known to your family, and that you’ve discussed their wishes so you’re informed when the time comes.
Having these discussions sooner rather than later will help make the estate planning process easier for you and your loved ones.
Here are our top tips for how to talk about wills.
3. Share some spook-tacular stories
We love a good ghost story at Willful—but not all stories need to be scary! Try using estate planning stories to get end-of-life conversations brewing.
A great place to start is by discussing your personal wishes or even stories about heirlooms that you want to leave behind.
Anecdotes and stories about wills in pop culture are another great way to organically introduce estate planning into your conversations.
Here are some examples to get you started:
- “Did you know that Prince passed away without a will? Even though it’s been several years, his estate is still moving through the court system.”
- “I read that Aretha Franklin died without sharing her will and her family only found her holographic will almost a year after she passed away. They even found multiple versions that contradicted each other.”
- “I was so surprised to hear Chadwick Boseman died without a will earlier this year.”
- “My friend Sarah recently completed her will with Willful and she mentioned it was really easy and she feels really relieved now that she’s checked that off her to-do list.”
Pro tip: Save some Halloween candy for the occasion. Stories are always better with snacks!
4. Blast some witchin’ tunes
“Hey Google, play Monster Mash.”
Whether you’re setting up for a Halloween bash or making your will, the right playlist can help you get in the right headspace for the moment.
While estate planning is certainly important, it doesn’t need to be sinister. Choosing a playlist you love can help make the process—dare we say—fun?
Need some inspiration? Here’s a playlist featuring 20 of our favourite songs to listen to while writing your will.
Finally, don’t forget to dust the cobwebs off your will
Once you’re done making your will—congrats! It’s time to celebrate with some Halloween treats. But estate planning doesn’t end there.
Your will should change as your life does. So it’s important that you don’t just leave it to collect dust. Be sure to review it from time to time, to make sure it’s up to date. It’s usually best to review your will at least once a year to ensure it reflects your current wishes.
Ready to get started with your estate plans this Halloween? Create your will with Willful and start for free today.
