Thinking Ahead About the Unthinkable?

Column distributed by Hearst Connecticut Media Group.

Links to resources referenced:

National Center for Health Statistics: “Mortality in the United States: Provisional Data, 2024”
- https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsrr/vsrr039.pdf
  - Related column excerpt:
    - “More than 3 million deaths occurred in the United States in 2024, including the very young (about 30,000 age 14 and younger), according to provisional statistics provided by the National Center for Health Statistics.”
Trust & Will 2025 Estate Planning Report
- https://trustandwill.com/documents/2025-estate-planning-report?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=impact&utm_campaign=29332&utm_content=2GiyNQXWMxycTwS1ol2UXyjRUku0N1XmPz-cXo0&utm_name=1455664&utm_term=156074.11883.0FOF59612820812996163&irgwc=1&afsrc=1&ir_partnerid=29332&ir_adid=851260&ir_campaignid=11883
  - Related column excerpt:
    - “Because of the inevitable, you might think that everyone would try to make things easier on their families by organizing their affairs. However, that is not the case for 55% of Americans who have no estate plan (as reported in the 2025 Estate Planning Report survey of 10,000 respondents conducted by the website Trust & Will).”
Buried in Work: Last Will and Testament Information Hub
- https://buriedinwork.com/info-hubs/essential-resources/wills/
  - Related column excerpt:
    - “Also look at ‘What a Will Does (and Doesn’t Do)’; ‘There Are Three Ways to Create a Will’ (I’d recommend the one involving a lawyer); and ‘Will Requirements by State.’”
Buried in Work: After Loss To-Do List Consultation
- https://shop.buriedinwork.com/products/after-loss-to-do-list-consultation?_gl=1*1vs3bsn*_gcl_au*NDczNzc5MDU5LjE3Njc3Mjg2OTk.*_ga*MTY5NzA2NTI3My4xNzY3NzI4Njk5*_ga_KWB36749QF*czE3NjgzMzI4ODAkbzYkZzEkdDE3NjgzMzQzMjgkajUzJGwwJGg2NzU4NTU0NzU.
  - Related column excerpt:
    - “Another resource (for a fee) is Buried in Work’s ‘After Loss To-Do List Consultation,’ which includes a 60-minute one-on-one Zoom or phone call that occurs within 72 hours of booking and involves an end-of-life expert who will guide the caller through ‘essential action items’ to help avoid missing deadlines.”
Buried in Work: Conversational Games
- https://shop.buriedinwork.com/collections/games?_gl=1*bhx1f4*_gcl_au*NDczNzc5MDU5LjE3Njc3Mjg2OTk.*_ga*MTY5NzA2NTI3My4xNzY3NzI4Njk5*_ga_KWB36749QF*czE3NjgzMzI4ODAkbzYkZzEkdDE3NjgzMzU2MDIkajQ4JGwwJGg2NzU4NTU0NzU.
  - Related column excerpt:
    - “One of the issues when trying to plan ahead is how to talk about the future with family members. For a fee, there is ‘One More Story,’ which seeks to engage family members in storytelling, and ‘Nothing Left Unsaid’ and ‘EOL (End of Life),’ which help promote conversations about topics involving end-of-life issues and estate planning.”