The short answer
Thinking about the future can feel stressful, but planning ahead can ease the burdens your family may face later. This includes completing advance directives, checking insurance coverage, organizing important records, and, if it feels right, planning a funeral or memorial. Talking about these things now can prevent problems and give loved ones peace of mind.
Careful planning can reduce the financial, legal, and emotional burdens your family faces later on.
Advance directives are legal papers that tell loved ones and doctors what to do if you can't speak for yourself.
Check with your health insurance company before starting a new treatment or hospice, to avoid payment problems.
Organizing records, policies, and documents—and telling family where to find them—can help a great deal.
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The full explanation.
Why plan ahead
Thinking about the future can feel stressful. But there comes a time when it helps to make certain decisions. Careful planning eases the financial, legal, and emotional load your family will carry later.
For many people, it's hard bringing up these subjects. Still, talking about them now can head off problems later. It can also give your loved ones peace of mind.
Complete advance directives
Have you filled out advance directives yet? If not, it is important to do so. These are legal papers. They tell your loved ones and doctors what to do for you if you cannot tell them yourself.
Making these decisions now keeps you in control. You decide how you want to be treated, and who is in charge of your care. Filling out advance directives makes your wishes known for all to follow. That, too, can give your loved ones peace of mind.
Update insurance issues
Contact your health insurance company if you decide to try a new treatment or go into hospice. Most insurance plans cover hospice. They may also cover brief home visits from a nurse or a home health aide several times a week.
It is wise to ask in advance. That can prevent payment problems later.
Put your affairs in order
You can help your family by organizing records, insurance policies, documents, and instructions. You may want to call a lawyer or a financial planner to be sure you have taken the right steps. Your bank can answer questions about changing accounts and credit cards.
Other helpful steps include:
- Make a list of where your family can find important papers.
- Keep your papers in a fireproof box, or with a lawyer.
- Are your papers in a safety deposit box? Make sure a family member or friend can get to it.
- Originals are needed for legal purposes. Even so, give family members photocopies.
Your family may need many different kinds of papers. You may not need everything on this list, but it is a helpful guide. For each item, write down the contact information and what needs to be done:
- Banks, savings, and loans
- Safety deposit box information
- Life insurance company
- Health insurance company
- Homeowners' or renters' insurance company
- Attorneys
- Accountant
- Pension or retirement plans
- Investment companies
- Credit card companies
- Employer
Making funeral arrangements
Does it feel right to you? Then you may want to help your family plan a funeral or memorial service that has meaning to you. This may seem hard. But planning ahead eases the burden on your loved ones after your death. They will not have to make these choices during a time of strong emotion and stress.
Some people plan services that are celebrations. Others prefer something quieter. Talk with your family about the kind of service you would like.
Words to know
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Common questions
Why plan ahead when it feels so stressful?
Thinking about the future can feel stressful, but there comes a time when it's helpful to make certain decisions. Careful planning reduces the financial, legal, and emotional burdens your family will face later. Talking about these subjects now can help avoid problems later.
What are advance directives?
Advance directives are legal papers that tell your loved ones and doctors what to do for you if you can't tell them yourself. Filling them out keeps you in control of how you want to be treated and who you choose to be in charge of your care, and can give your loved ones peace of mind.
What should I check with my insurance company?
Contact your health insurance company if you decide to try a new treatment or go into hospice. Most plans cover hospice, and may cover brief home visits from a nurse or home health aide. Asking in advance can help prevent payment problems later.
How can I put my affairs in order?
You can help your family by organizing records, insurance policies, documents, and instructions. Make a list of where important papers are kept, keep originals safe (such as in a fireproof box or with a lawyer), make sure a family member can access any safety deposit box, and give family members photocopies. A lawyer or financial planner can help.
What documents might my family need?
The article lists many types, such as information for banks and savings, safety deposit boxes, life and health insurance, homeowners' or renters' insurance, attorneys, accountants, pension or retirement plans, investment companies, credit card companies, and your employer.
Should I plan a funeral or memorial ahead of time?
If it feels right to you, you may want to help plan a funeral or memorial service that has meaning to you. Planning ahead can ease the burden on loved ones during a time of strong emotions. Some people plan celebrations, while others prefer something more subdued; talk with your family about what you'd like.
Questions to ask your doctor
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Last updated: 2026-08-10Next planned review: 2028-07-02
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Cancer Explained does not originate medical claims. Every page restates guidance already published by the National Cancer Institute, the CDC, the USPSTF and the FDA, in plain language, with the source cited so you can check the original yourself. AI does the translating and organizing; automated checks test claims, citations, clarity and safety before anything publishes. We do not employ clinicians and do not intend to — our work is translation and navigation, not clinical judgment. Nothing here is personal medical advice, and no page can account for your particular situation.
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How this page was created
Cancer Explained does not originate medical claims. Every page restates guidance already published by the National Cancer Institute, the CDC, the USPSTF and the FDA, in plain language, with the source cited so you can check the original yourself. AI does the translating and organizing; automated checks test claims, citations, clarity and safety before anything publishes. We do not employ clinicians and do not intend to — our work is translation and navigation, not clinical judgment. Nothing here is personal medical advice, and no page can account for your particular situation.
Editorial status: Source checked — This page was written with AI assistance and checked line by line against the sources listed on it. That confirms the sources support what the page says. It is not a medical review, and it does not confirm the page is complete or right for your situation.
Human medical review: not completed. Pages here are not signed off by a clinician before they publish. That is not an oversight we are quietly working around: we restate published guidance and cite it, so the authority belongs to the source rather than to us, and every page names where its claims come from — you can verify us instead of trusting us. Where a volunteer clinician has reviewed a page, their name and credentials appear on it; where no name appears, no clinician has checked it. We are glad to have reviewers and are recruiting them, and we do not hold pages back waiting for one. Use this site to understand your situation and to ask better questions of the people treating you.
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