Who Speaks for You?

By Heather Ross, Co-founder, RESOLVED.

What is an Advocate?  That is the question.

An Advocate is someone who acts on your behalf.  Ensuring that your wishes are followed and you receive what it is you are looking for.

An advocate’s best strength is not only their profession but it is the fact that they can listen and interpret what you are saying into exactly what you want.  Not only does an advocate ensure you receive what you want, they secure other professionals on your behalf who are outside of their own professional purview.

Funeral and estate settlement advocates are your voice and advisors in sorting through all of the choices and decisions you need to make throughout the entire process from preplanning to finalizing the estate and finding the right grief counsellor for you and your family.

When preplanning your funeral, whatever that may look like to you, your advocate and advisor (Funeral Professional) makes sure you understand every part of the process and all of the options available to you.  Your advocate will help you understand the funeral home and funeral director’s rolls, explain the difference between ground burial, entombment and cremation as well as show you the options available with each of them.  He or she will also assist you in sorting through the many options in designing the right type of funeral service, memorial service or celebration of life which is best for you and your family. Spoiler alert; they are the same thing.  Your advocate will show you the different types of memorials and guide you in choosing the one would uniquely represent you and your loved ones.

Not only will your advocate guide you through the entire preplanning process, but they will be there for you as you and your family’s voice of reason when the time comes to finalize the funeral arrangements.

An estate settlement advocate and advisor guides you through what needs to be done following a death; not an easy task as an executor/estate trustee when the estate is that of someone you had been close to.  Settling an estate while grieving is a very difficult. Your advocate (Certified Executor Advisor or CEA) guides, assists and supports you in completing all the necessary tasks that must be finalized in a relatively short period of time.  They will also assist you in completing the necessary documentation and letters that need to be completed and filed in order to preserve the estate, receive any benefits available, cancel what should be cancelled and guide you through the multitude of items needed to be completed.

From preplanning your funeral, final disposition and memorialization to dealing with the details of finalizing the estate your advocate works for you ensuring your choices are honoured.

Who speaks for you?  Your Advocate speaks for you.