Life Support Service

Tipi Wills & Mediation is uniquely placed to be able to support and work with you, if you should wish it, in the planning and organisation that follows the death of a loved one. There are numerous jobs and you may feel it is better to share that load with someone who has experience of what to do. If you would like support and/or guidance following the death of a loved one that helps spread the load then please consider using our Life Support Service. This service also includes an Informal Preparation Session which is described in the Advance Care Plan details. This is a unique service devised to help loved ones prepare for the questions and decisions that will be asked of them upon the passing of their loved one. These can sometimes be unexpected and difficult to deal with, and many families have said they wish they had been more prepared. Our Life Support Service therefore can be put in place well before the passing of the loved one.

If you are dealing with end of life care, or planning for serious or terminal illness then all our planning services are available to you. Consider starting with your Advance Care Plan which helps guide you to put all your life care plans in place. Please contact us to discuss. We make everything as streamlined and stress free as possible.

The Life Support Service can commence from the time you notify us of the loss of a loved one. We will make sure we work with you through the list of tasks that are before you. Costs

Please note the following : Various things need to take place before probate is granted and the distribution of an estate can take place. This can take a long time as various hurdles are dealt with. Various problems and difficulties can occur also, at this stage and beyond. This does not fall within the Life Support Service. You may indeed consult with us for advice and support in this area and this will fall within the usual services and costs of Tipi Wills & Mediation. We are more than happy to help if we ca. You may already have probate experts or we can refer you to our experts if needed to help provide continous care.

If probate is not needed, things can run more smoothly. If there was no Will and you are dealing with intestacy and letters of administration or a Will and probate, the overloaded courts can testify that the whole area is fraught with potential problems. It cannot be over emphasised that by far the best thing is to set your mind to putting your affairs in order, whether you have assets or not.

Have you considered a Living Funeral?

Traditionally a wake is a social gathering that was held before the funeral to allow people to pay their respects to the departed. In times gone by, family and friends were expected to keep a watch over the body to keep evil spirits away. In fact the history of this also stems back to the days when a person was laid out in case they woke up, hence the wake. This tradition has now evolved into what is known as a Living Funeral so that you do not wait until a person has passed, to celebrate their life. It gives everyone the opportunity to celebrate and perhaps share thoughts and memories in person.

It is often said that it is weddings and funerals that bring people together and how people wish that it wasn’t that way. So, a Living Funeral has become an opportunity for a person who knows they are approaching the end to be with everyone together.

This may also help you or a loved one to pass peacefully. It is not at all uncommon for someone on their deathbed to wait until all members of the family have visited. Often it is then, after everyone has left, it is then they pass. Whether or not you have a faith, having the opportunity to say goodbye to someone you love beforehand is a tremendous help in the grieving process that is to come. This is borne out in the difficulty of processing loss where there is a sudden death. It seems such an obvious step forward, to share laughter, tears, thoughts and memories with the actual person before they pass. Tipi Wills & Mediation are in discussions with partners with the aim of offering Living Funerals to our clients. If this is of interest to you, we would be delighted if you email or call and let us know whether you may be interested in us helping you to organise this service.

Funerals and methods of saying goodbye can be diverse and ancient rituals. A great variety of choices are now open to us but can also remain very personal to the person and family. The one thing that does not change, is our need to say goodbye, for a huge variety of reasons. This is our rite of passage that enables us to walk through our grief. Think of the elephant families that revisit the graveyard of bones and tusks of their lost family members. It is an inherent need. What has become the norm, is that there is no norm. We can choose how we wish to buried and remembered. Like David Bowie you can have a Direct Cremation if you wish to avoid too much fuss, or you can provide as much traditional, luxury, dignity and memorials as you wish and you may wish to devise a combination that suits you. Many of us will also have that friend who has put aside funds to make sure you all have a good party on them.

We all understand funerals and rituals are not just for paying our respects. “As my grandfather said when my brother died, we have to look after the living now, and having been a Navy war veteran he knew a thing or two about that” said Patricia. A person can plan their own funeral or leave some wishes that helps someone else to do that.

Sometimes a death is unexpected and sudden, which can be particularly hard. This creates a whole new set of challenges that can be extraordinarily difficult to navigate when you are highly distressed. Making choices and decisions at such a time can be very challenging. There’s a lot to contend with and it can be very time consuming and overwhelming. Here's the link to the BereavementAdvice.Org

If you would like us to support you in any of this, consider our Life Support Service and contact us

If at all possible, as with all our planning services, it is good to preplan or consider your wishes well before they will be needed. You can amend and grow this as you wish and even do this with other loved ones. For example, do you wish to have your fullest celebration before or after the funeral and what is it you would like? Or, are you planning on having the fuller celebration at a Living Funeral and to opt for something different such as a woodland burial or Direct Cremation at the time you pass?

So, please consider our planning services and note our Life Support Service too.

Tailor Made Funerals

To some extent, all funerals are tailor made and aim to celebrate the life of the person who has passed. The funeral directors are usually very helpful as is a local vicar or crematorium.

Sometimes it is appreciating what those you leave behind need. Essentially, it is your choice alone and there is more choice and control than people often realise. Today, there is usually a type of funeral service available that will help provide those wishes. For example, a friend kept his very old green 1950s pick up truck in tip top condition for many years. He developed an illness and knew that his end was coming. The shiny truck was to carry his coffin through the village from his house to the church. Everyone was happy to gather outside his house and walk, following the wonderfully kept old green truck, up to the local church creating a large and respectful entourage. Another had everyone wear bright pink feather boas to the service and afterwards everyone sang copa cabana. Another dear friend had the service at a church and had the coffin taken by itself to an unattended direct cremation with a gathering back at his house. A traditional funeral I know had a horse drawn carriage take the coffin from the church to its place of rest and another was a humanist service with a cremation. The type and uniqueness of each celebration of life and funeral is endless. We each have our own ideas about what we would like and they will differ widely whatever your faith or beliefs.

When considering a funeral, you may prefer something traditional, incorporate ancient rituals or create entirely new rituals. Today it is possible to choose a wide variety of options.

The type of funerals now on offer to most of us in the UK, and here on the Isle of Wight include:

Traditional style Funerals that are faith based

A wake before or after the funeral

Direct Cremation / Unattended Funerals

Cremation with a wake

Woodland Burials / Eco Funerals

Humanist Funerals

Living Funerals

Silk lined hard wood coffins, cardboard, wicker, bamboo – essentially whatever you would like that is appropriate for its setting

Living Urn / Tree Pod – Grow me into a tree

A tailor made combination of the above

Talk to us using our Life Support Service and we can support you how you wish

Offers and Discounts

Local & National Service

Life Support Service

Be in control. Be Certain

Trained by and Member of both Society of Wills Writers and Estate Planners & Society of Mediators

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