Overview
Organising personal, financial and legal paperwork can help you feel more in control.
You can look at your financial arrangements, your plans for your future medical treatment (advance care planning) and prepare legal documents.
Organising personal, financial and legal paperwork and making decisions about the future is hard. But planning ahead is important whether you have a serious illness or not.
Sorting out paperwork and getting your affairs in order can help you feel more in control of your life and what the future holds, bring a sense of relief, and allow you to focus on treatment and living.
Organising your paperwork
Keeping paperwork up to date and in one secure place will make it easier if someone needs to help you with money or legal matters. Discuss your legal arrangements with your family, and let them know how to contact your lawyer. If you have an advance care directive, give a copy to your healthcare team so they know about any decisions you have made.
Documents to get together include:
- social media login and passwords
- birth, marriage/divorce certificates
- bank and credit card details and passwords
- investment information (e.g. shares)
- Centrelink and Medicare details
- superannuation and insurance
- house title/lease
- loan details (e.g. house, car)
- passport
- will
- documents appointing substitute decision-maker/power of attorney
- advance care directive
- funeral information.
Financial issues
Find out where to get help with paying for treatment and bills. Some people might also consider accessing their superannuation.Advance care planning
The process of discussing your future medical care and treatment is called advance care planning.Preparing legal documents
This can include making an advance care directive and a will, and appointing a substitute decision maker.Find support services
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