Wrapping Up the Loose Ends of Life: Why We Started Peacefully

We started Peacefully because we have seen the tasks required at the end of life overwhelm our families. My grandmother had terminal cancer, and she did everything that she could to get things in order before she passed away. Despite this, in the days after her death, my grandfather woke up in the middle of the night worrying about things that had fallen through the cracks — what to do about the car, the cell phone, social security, how many death certificates to get and where to send them, taxes, a bank account she forgot about

Jennifer’s grandparents, Renee and Joseph Mintz

To me, it was frustrating how many little tasks that he had to do — during a time when he just wanted to be with family and mourn the loss of his life partner of more than 60 years.

Death is inevitable; it doesn’t discriminate. Dealing with death is a hugely time-consuming, expensive process that burdens surviving loved ones.

We interviewed more than a hundred people about their experiences with losing a loved one. Currently, family members think of each task in an ad-hoc way as each bill comes in the mail. They then have to search for how to transfer or close each bank account, social media profile, credit card, magazine subscription, cell phone subscription, utility bill, as well as notify social security and credit bureaus. Then, they must find, print, fill and mail each of the complex and duplicative forms. This logistics process takes hundreds of hours over more than 6 months. Families can lose thousands of dollars. Often, families devolve into conflict.

Furthermore, these hassles are completed while surviving family and friends are grieving. As a result, the surviving loved ones often fail to properly deal with these tasks. This creates the opportunity for identity theft; every year, the identities of 2.5 million deceased Americans are used to open up credit card accounts, apply for loans, and get services. Tax fraud using the identities of deceased Americans costs the government over $5 billion per year.

While people want to be with family — or alone processing their loss — they are instead trying to find documents and driving around to government agencies and banks. This burden is extremely challenging for surviving widows. A survey of 2,638 widows conducted by Merril Lynch / Age Wave, found that navigating financial and legal paperwork was a top challenge for two-thirds of widows. Yet, currently, the only support available is checklists and financial planners, which are expensive for the average American.

We started Peacefully because we want to help other families who have lost someone. Peacefully helps surviving family and friends wrap up the loose ends after a death. The platform includes a smart questionnaire that identifies the appropriate next steps after someone passes away and a comprehensive to-do list with all of the right forms and instructions. Our next step is to automate those next steps.

We take care of the loose ends of life so that surviving loved ones can focus on what matters: www.peacefully.com.