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News

Story:
From the Coulee Times Thursday, April 03, 2008

LEGAL MATTERS: New law provides more choice for funerals, burials
By GREGORY BONNEY

Though it might sound cold, a new Wisconsin law will actually bring peace of mind to many residents. The law, called Authorization for Final Disposition, allows Wisconsin adults to choose who will make their funeral and burial arrangements.

Prior law held that next of kin made all arrangements, regardless of the wishes of the deceased. That created a number of problems for unmarried couples, siblings of deceased parents and the clergy and funeral directors who were trying to sort out to whom they should listen.

For more of this story, click on or type the URL below:

http://www.couleenews.com/articles/2008/04/03/features/legal+matters.txt

Want to take advantage of the new law?

Download the Wisconsin Designated Agent Form at the Funeral Consumer Alliance website.

Instructions for using WI Designated Agent Form

To go in the dark with a light
is to know the light,
To know the dark, go dark.
Go without sight and
find that the dark, too,
blooms and sings,
And is traveled by dark feet
and dark wings.

— Wendell Berry

Eventually, we must all face our own death.

How comforting if those left behind after we die know our “final wishes” and the details needed to carry them out.

Our hope is that, by envisioning this process in thoughtful detail before it is imminent, each of us will be able to enter this final journey with calm dignity and loving support, and with as little fear and anxiety as possible.

The Threshold Care Circle of Viroqua has published a booklet, My Final Wishes, which offers you a way to record that information. It is a fill-in-the-blank workbook for you to record your preferences for end of life and afterward. It includes wishes for funeral, burial and memorial services; information for your death certificate and obituary; and the location of papers needed to handle your estate as well as phone numbers of important people to call.

Filling out the booklet gives us an opportunity to reflect on our lives and who and what is important to us. It will also be a great comfort to those we leave behind if they know our wishes and the details needed to carry them out.

My Final Wishes is available for a donation of $10 plus $.75 shipping. Contact the TCC for price if ordering more than 10 books. To order your copy, call Susan Nesbit at 608-606-4566 or download an order form.