On Thursday morning (Apr. 2) Connexions Resource Centre held a workshop at St. Paul’s Anglican Church hall on how to prepare for the death of a loved one. The topic was a popular one, attracting several dozen attendees. Connexions is a non-profit organization that promotes health and well-being of the Outaouais English-speaking community.
Guest speakers were Greg Hayes of Hayes Funeral Home and Meagan Derouin, branch manager with RBC Shawville, who spoke about how to make arrangements for someone’s passing, and answered many questions from the audience.
Hayes said that making arrangements ahead of time is the best way to take one burden off your loved ones during a stressful time.
“So there’s lots of different ways to do it, but the nice thing about having it done in advance is that those decisions don’t have to be made under pressure,” he said. “When someone passes away, especially suddenly, there’s a lot of factors that have to be considered, there’s a lot of emotions and decisions have to be made in a relatively short amount of time.”
He said that it’s common for families to avoid conversations about death, even in hospice care situations where it’s foreseeable, but just broaching the subject is an important first step. He emphasized the importance of having a will.
“When there’s no will, it complicates things greatly, and I’m not going to sit and pound my fist on the table, but you need wills,” he said. “You don’t have authority to do any actions on behalf of that deceased person without a will. Nothing. You cannot go to the bank and ask a question. You can’t go to the license bureau and transfer a vehicle. You can’t do anything.”
Derouin explained the difference between a power of attorney and a mandatary and encouraged attendees to carefully research the powers that each have. She added that it’s important to have discussions about who will fill these roles, as well as who is designated as the liquidator, which is the official term used for “executors” in Quebec.
“Just make sure that you’re speaking with these people ahead of time,” she said. “It’s ok to say to someone, ‘Hey I did my will, just FYI I made you my liquidator.’ It can be a family member, it can be a friend, it can be a trusted person in your life.”
She emphasized that the person should be someone who’s organized and responsible.
“Just be aware and careful when you’re choosing the people that are going to be taking care of your wishes,” she said.
At the end of the session, coordinator Shelley Heaphy announced that Connexions would be hosting free legal walk-in clinics at the AutonHomme Pontiac office in Campbell’s Bay (128 rue Front), on Apr. 14, May 20 and June 17, all from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
