Die without pain, and where you wanted to
Most people want to die at home; most die in institutions.
4 solutions built for it
Palliative care, Hospice, Medical aid in dying and Death doulas.
The ending, and what is left behind. Almost every friction here is felt by survivors rather than the person: a body that must be dealt with within days, an estate that must be legally re-owned, dependents who lived on an income that has stopped, and grief that no market can fix but many sell around.
11 first-order frictions arise in this phase.
Its neighbourhood
Everything this entry connects to directly. Click any point to follow it.
Dying
Disposing of the body
Settling the estate
Everything owned must go to someone
Property, accounts, debts, and belongings must be legally re-owned.
4 solutions built for it
Estate and trust attorneys, Probate, Estate tax planning and Digital legacy and account inheritance tools.
Someone still depended on the income
A spouse or child must live on what was arranged.
3 solutions built for it
Term life insurance, Defined-benefit pensions and Survivor benefits.
Dozens of institutions must be told, in order, with proof
Banks, insurers, utilities, subscriptions, the state — each with its own form.
3 solutions built for it
Death certificates, Estate settlement and account-closure services and Estate sales and clearance.
Remembering
The survivors must go on
Grief has no market fix, so the market sells around it.
3 solutions built for it
Grief counselling and support groups, Memorial services and wakes and Bereavement leave.
Do not want to be forgotten
The last status purchase, made in advance or by the heirs.
4 solutions built for it
Headstones and monuments, Obituaries, Online memorial pages and Charitable bequests and naming gifts.
Feed everyone who comes
The repast, the wake, the casseroles.
2 solutions built for it
Memorial services and wakes and Funeral catering and repast venues.
The house must be emptied and sold, or lived in
The largest asset and the hardest to divide.
3 solutions built for it
Trusts, Estate sales and clearance and Inherited-property sale and clearance.
The name and the line continue, or do not
Bequests to grandchildren, family foundations, and the will's last clause.
3 solutions built for it
Genealogy and DNA ancestry, Charitable bequests and naming gifts and Family foundations and dynasty trusts.