Benefits of planning ahead

What are the benefits of planning ahead?

  • You and your family can have peace of mind over who can make decisions on your behalf
  • You take control over how decisions about your affairs will be made in the future
  • The people you trust can safeguard your wishes and are legally authorised to speak for you
  • You can be confident that you have explained your wishes to the people you trust

“I don’t want my family left making hard decisions about my health…it is my responsibility to make it very clear what I would want, if I couldn’t speak for myself.”

What are the consquences of not planning ahead?

  • No one knows what you would want
  • Someone you don’t know may be making the decisions for you
  • You may end up with a different life to the one you would have chosen
  • Your loved ones may experience unnecessary stress because they have to make decisions when they don’t know what you would have wanted

“When my partner was seriously injured in an accident, I found I couldn’t sell our house because it was in both our names. It took months to sort out at a time when I needed to focus on her care and our family.”