Oh, yeah. And, while I was writing the above, I was fully aware that I’m nowhere close to having done anything like that. It helps that pretty much all my property is co-owned with my wife, and I have no particular valuables that would cause problems. I do have a will, though it’s several years old … but what I really meant was all the stuff that accompanies dealing with the death of a loved one. My wife’s parents died within three months of one another back in 2010; they didn’t have a lot of junk collected in their house, most of their papers were in a single file box, and it was STILL a huge hassle trying to work out a few small but vital details. On top of dealing with funerals (which, fortunately, they had also arranged in advance.)

I’ve thought about doing a little how-to book, “Planning for Your Death and Funeral”, just covering everything a conscientious person would need to do to minimize the difficulties for his/her survivors. On the other hand, I’d be just as happy if something like that already existed, so I could consult it and start going down the checklist.