DEATH is traumatic enough without all the paperwork.
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Tamworth resident Rechelle Leahy knows that more than most, after she lost her mother, nan and her husband to cancer all within a decade.
So, she decided to create iDecide, a new platform that encourages end of life planning so that nobody else has to experience how messy managing a deceased loved ones' affairs can be.
The platform is a safe and secure place for people to store and share crucial information for loved ones or a power of attorney, Ms Leahy said.
"Essentially I want to change the conversation around end of life planning, each journey is different and we need to open that conversation about death and dying so when the time comes our affairs are in order and we can grieve without the stress of second-guessing what our loved-ones' wishes were," she said.
According to Finder, half of Australians don't have a valid will prepared for when they die.
We had a dark sense of humour which I've tried to bring into the platform, I always say 100 per cent of us are going to die, so we should be prepared and not scared.
- Rechelle Leahy
In the case of her husband, who was diagnosed with colon cancer at 36 and passed away three years later, Ms Leahy said being able to plan the end of his life together meant she could focus on dealing with her grief.
"We had a dark sense of humour which I've tried to bring into the platform, I always say 100 per cent of us are going to die, so we should be prepared and not scared," she said.
"It is an avalanche that comes at you and it's so hard to process.
"It doesn't make the grief less but I didn't have to focus on some of that stuff, I wasn't burdened with going to the bank and reliving the trauma of having a dead husband at 39 - that's the stuff I hope I can alleviate for people."
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The platform, iDecide, launched online on Dying to Know Day on Sunday.
Ms Leahy said she had five tips to make life easier for people when a loved one passes; first to make sure your will is up to date; to discuss funeral arrangements, organise removal from bank accounts, mortgages and insurance; look at outstanding debts and how to manage them and talking with a loved one about which keepsakes to keep.
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