In conversation: the truth about after-death administration

As a support worker or clinician in the aged care sector, it is likely that at some point when a resident or home care package client dies in care, you will be faced with the family asking “what do we do now?”

Whilst your key responsibilities and mandate is around the clinical care of patients, the death of a patient often signals just the beginning of a complex administration journey for loved ones left behind. And very often, no one tells them about it — or what they should expect.

So how can you and your teams be better positioned to assist the families of residents, even before this question arises? How can you provide a duty of care, beyond finalising the refund of the RAD?

Did you know?

It takes the average executor in Australia 200–300 hours to fully administer an estate. This equates to up to six hours per week, depending on how much time you are able to allocate to the process.

Most of this time is spent trying to locate and complete paperwork to close bank accounts, cancel direct debit payments and get documents certified. Outsourcing these key processes can reduce a 12-month process down to as little as three months.

Having conversations early around the paperwork and processes that may be required during the after-death administration process can significantly minimise the impact and mental load for loved ones that are tasked with administering a deceased estate. What better time than now for families to ensure they know the whereabouts of documents such as birth and marriage certificates as well as knowledge of bank accounts, passwords and the location of a will.

And what if the next steps after someone’s death could be managed seamlessly, so that instead of loved ones being under pressure to make phone calls to government departments, they could have space and capacity to grieve?

Losing a loved one

After my own experience of losing my parents at the young age of 35, I can attest that one simply cannot afford mentally or emotionally (and financially) not to have certain conversations around death and what happens next when someone dies.

I was, however, fortunate enough to have had parents that had a will in place containing explicit instructions around their estate management, as well as a power of attorney, and an end-of-life care directive, so that as the executor of the will and someone grieving the loss of a parent, I didn’t need to make overwhelming decisions. I also didn’t need to scrounge through copious amounts of paperwork, files and boxes, because I had easy access to the information and documents required to tackle the 40+ administration processes that lay ahead of me. Common things that are missed by executors and family members include notifying the AEC, locating shares to transfer and cancelling licences and subscriptions, as well as seeking financial advice when receiving an inheritance.

Inevitably, there was still about 200 hours’ worth of work for me to do with regards to wrapping up their estate, including making calls to Centrelink, visiting the bank to close accounts, engaging with real estate agents to sell property and liaising with buyers for their motor vehicles — even though I had the authority to do all these things. I had the paperwork I needed which authorised me to make things happen. I had the opportunity to take control of a situation that can often leave families and friends feeling lost and depleted, because there was never a road map or instructions left for them to follow.

With little to no guidance or education around these steps, it is important that the aged care facility or provider encourages their residents and families to engage in these conversations and planning.

How can aged care organisations start the conversation?

• Encourage clients/residents and families to reach out to after-death administration specialists and end-of-life planning organisations who will foster those conversations.
• Place a flyer for these organisations in the welcome pack for clients/residents.
• Engage thought leaders in the space to present an information session to your residents and families once a quarter.
• Provide flyers for these organisations in your reception.
• Highlight the contact information for these organisations in your monthly newsletters.
   

With a rapidly aging population, now more than ever the community has a responsibility to learn more about how we can work together to better prepare and support families with the administrative responsibility when they lose a loved one.

Danielle Phillips is an only child and the founder of Sage. She realised the importance of an executor solution to provide support to a deceased person’s family and executor of the will when she lost both of her parents at the age of 35 during the COVID-19 pandemic. After countless hours of being placed on hold, weeks of following up paperwork and often being given the wrong documentation to complete, Danielle immediately recognised the need for a road map that could effectively lessen the pressure and confusion around deceased estate administration and what to do next when someone dies.

Image credit: iStock.com/D-Keine