• Someone to carry out your wishes

  Name the executor of your will or anyone else you trust, with their contact details.

• A death notice or an obituary

  Say where it is published, and include your date and place of birth, your family, your biography, a photograph and a request for donations instead of flowers.

• Organ donation

  Say whether you are a registered organ donor and where.

• Burial, entombment, cremation, donation or other

  Choose what is done with your body and, for burial, entombment and cremation, give details: resting place, casket, urn, headstone or grave marker, epitaph and more.

• Services in your memory

  Choose a visitation, a funeral, a graveside service, a memorial service or another kind, with where each is held and any instructions.

• Paying for it, and final words

  Say how the funeral costs are paid, and leave messages for people and any other wishes.

• Signature and witnesses

  The plan ends with your signature and two witness blocks.

• A lawyer reviews it before it is used

  Your answers are prepared into a draft and reviewed by a qualified lawyer, rather than handed back to you as a finished form.

An end-of-life plan sets out your wishes for your remains and for any services or memorials, and names the person who should carry them out. It is not a will: a will says how your assets are given out, while a plan says what you want for your body and your memorial. You do not need a will to make one.

This builder asks who will carry out your wishes, whether you want a death notice or an obituary (and what it should say), whether you are an organ donor, and what you want done with your remains: burial, entombment, cremation, donation to science, or something else. It then asks about any services (a visitation, a funeral, a graveside or memorial service), how the costs are paid, and any final messages or wishes.

Whether a statement like this is binding, and how it should be signed and witnessed, differ by state, so the draft sets none of that out and a lawyer confirms it before you sign. The draft says so rather than leaving you to assume it is complete.

Not sure? Talk to an attorney about your situation first.

These are separate documents, for different jobs.

• Last will and testamentSet out who inherits and who carries out your wishes.View document
• Living willRecord your wishes about medical treatment in advance.View document
• Personal care profileShare your routines and care preferences with those caring for you.View document

• Before a major operation or a new diagnosis
• When you want your family to know your wishes about a funeral
• After planning your estate, to cover what a will does not
• When you have already arranged a plot or a service and want it recorded

• Living willRecord your wishes about medical treatment in advance.View document
• Healthcare directiveSet out your healthcare wishes and who can speak for you.View document
• Medical records releaseAllow a named person to receive your medical records.View document
• Personal care profileShare your routines and care preferences with those caring for you.View document