Pass in Peace was inspired by the wonderful work of Warrnambool and District Community Hospice. Hospice volunteers demonstrate the huge difference that a human touch can make in how we experience death and the impact that our passing has on loved ones. We believe that the work Hospice does is deeply meaningful and important. Profits from Pass in Peace will be used to support the work of Hospice and we encourage everyone to consider becoming a volunteer.
By developing Pass in Peace, and supporting the work of Hospice, we hope to dramatically improve how Victorian families plan for, and experience, the final stage of life.
Pass in Peace helps you create a package of documents that will greatly help your loved ones when you die or become gravely ill. There are two types of documents we help you to develop:
Pass in Peace starts with your Will.
It is up to you what else we include but we suggest clients consider a Power of Attorney document and a Medical Treatment Decision Maker document. These help address common issues which might occur before we die.
The most important legal document: Your Will
A Will is the most important legal document you can have in terms of legally protecting your family and spelling out exactly how you would like your property and assets distributed after you die. Everyone over the age of 18 should have a valid Will.
Power of Attorney and Medical Treatment Decision Maker documents
These documents let you appoint a trusted person with the power to make decisions on your behalf in case you lose capacity to make decisions yourself. This can include medical decisions through a Medical Treatment Decision Maker, or personal and financial decisions through a Power of Attorney.
Legal documents are great, but they don’t cover everything. Pass in Peace gives clients an option to discuss and record instructions for your loved ones to consider when you pass away. These are not legally binding but they are incredibly helpful to your family or friends who will need to make arrangements whilst experiencing grief. You decide what this includes and what level of detail you wish to go into.
We suggest people to consider things like where you want to be buried; the music, photos, poems, or flowers you’d like at your funeral; messages you’d like passed on; or instructions for your social media accounts.
This canvas is yours to paint. By developing your personal plan alongside your legal documents, you’ll be ensuring that key people are aware of these wishes and that they can review them when the time comes.
There are lots of ways to reach out - fill out our form below or contact us by phone, email or social media. Once we hear from you, we’ll contact you and provide some guidance about what you need to think about before our first appointment.
Pass in Peace packages are based around what you want. You can decide which Legal Documents to include and what you might want to capture in your personal plan (if you want one).
GRIT Legal will have a consultation with you. This initial appointment lets us chat through what you’d like to cover. GRIT Legal will work with you to explain legal terms and details, discuss any questions you might have, and capture the information we need to prepare your legal documents.
We will also use this discussion to help you think about your personal plan and start you on the process of documenting these wishes.
When we have what we need, GRIT Legal will develop your legal documents according to your instructions.
GRIT Legal can proceed with the legal documentation while you take the time you need to develop your personal plan.
(Optional)
Clients sometimes require time to ponder what they really would like in their personal plan and like to discuss their wishes with family members. We won’t rush you.
If required, we can provide a follow-up appointment to help you through the journey.
We’ll send a draft of the legal documents to ensure key details are correct. You will also have a final appointment with GRIT Legal to sign your legal documents. Our preference is that this is conducted in person.
Once finalised, a copy of your legal documents will be provided to you. We will retain the original legal documents and securely store these for you. If you’d like us to, we can also keep a copy of your personal plan. We’ll reach out every three years to see if you’d like to review and update your legal documents and/or your personal plan in case your wishes change over time.
