Executor School

Story time #4:
Another useful piece of my background is my work in organizational change management. My original foray into entrepreneurship was change management consulting, focusing on Big Life Changes. Like death and dying. Charon Consulting remains my flagship death literacy business, where I teach on a wide variety of topics, including change, stress, and resilience. 
Because death is change. It’s a change in your relationship with the person who dies, and in how you navigate life with grief as a companion. 
This part of my background taught me to look at what happens to people when they are navigating change, and this is how I approach executorship. And it's built into Executor School.
If you’d like to navigate the changes that come with end of life with more resilience, book a call. We should talk.

My story part 3: Document Management
I spent part of my project management career in document and records management, which turned out to be very relevant to the work I do now. 
Your executor is legally obligated to keep good records. Your executor also needs to know where your key paperwork is, and to have access to it.  
A lot of estate planning focuses on creating documents and storing them securely, not so much on access after the fact or on prepping your people.

If you want to ensure your estate records are organized with the executor in mind, book a call. We should talk.

My story part 2: Project Management
I spent almost two decades in project management. This is why I call what I do death project management. Closing an estate is a project and the executor is the project manager. They need a plan to implement, to build a team, to lead, to delegate, to engage stakeholders, manage change, keep good records,  and manage a budget. There can be legal and financial consequences for missed deadlines. 
This is why I applied PM methodologies to the design of Executor School. 
Because when you can see what needs to happen, and in what order, it gets easier to know where to start.
If you want to be an estate holder or executor with a manageable plan to execute, book a call. We should talk.

Are you one of those people who thinks they need to have a perfect estate plan before they can tell anyone?
And because perfection is impossible, you never start?
Your loved ones need you to start.
Begin with small things: reviewing the will with them, making a list of your top 3-5 assets, create a contact list for your beneficiaries.
Any information you can provide now saves your loved ones headaches later.
Choose progress over perfection.
Just make a start. ♥️
And if you'd like help deciding where to begin, book a call. Maybe we should talk.

Executors spend a LOT of time waiting.
Waiting for documents, probate, the CRA, financial institutions, other people...

It's generally a frenzy of activity followed by a period of being stuck in limbo.
Part of being a good executor is knowing when to act and when to wait. And communicating progress (or lack of) with beneficiaries so they know you're still on the case.
If you are one of those people who likes to know the whole process, book a call. We should talk!

Have you thought about what might go on your monument when you die?

What are your famous last words going to be?

Everyone votes on what you'll be reincarnated as. 😜

It's giving Edward Gorey vibes.
But hey, would you be good to go?

Executorship isn't complicated, it’s just a lot of overlapping responsibilities.
Death project management, as I like to call it, can be divided into 6 buckets:
1 Making arrangements for the deceased
2 Gathering & protecting assets
3 Pre-administration
4 Ongoing Estate administration
5 Probate
6 Communicating & reporting
Depending on the complexity of the estate, there can be 100+ tasks, with some having to be done in a particular order.
Knowing how each task is connected can make the work much more manageable.
Like to be prepared and want to know more? Book a call. We should talk!