Are you prepared to die? I am, and that’s the right way to live. - The Washington Post

But thanks mainly to the pandemic I have been motivated to complete about 90 percent of the necessary steps for end-of-life planning.

Most of these people, it’s fair to say, were not planning on a sudden death.

Caring.com reported that before the pandemic hit, fewer than half those 55 and older had completed estate-planning documents (such as a will, a living will, and designating a medical power of attorney).

Actually, I’m not alone in having jump-started my death planning.

By leaving things as they were, my soon-to-be-ex would still inherit my part of our house equity (rather than my siblings) and he’d be making life and death decisions for me in the event I was incapacitated.

In recent months, I’ve taken various steps to make sure I’m ready — or at least “readier” — for what my friend and literary agent Richard Pine likes to call, “The End.”.

(I got rid of all mention of my ex in estate finances or end-of-life decisions.) In our family cemetery plot, I’ve chosen my place, and there are new notes in a manila folder for a memorial service and an obituary, although I’ve not actually written a draft like other really well-prepared friends I know.

At the outset of the pandemic, I emailed Barry Owen a short note; at the time he appeared to be holding steady.

“No news is good news, which is to say, I’m still here.” He explained that he and Dan, his husband, “speak frankly with each other about death and what is it called.

Oh yeah, end-of-life planning.

By the time of his death, three months into the pandemic, I had finished my own death planning.

●Lantern (lantern.co) is a free website with checklists and articles about end-of-life preparations

Everplans (everplans.com) is a subscription-based online product for creating, organizing and storing your end-of-life plan

The Conversation Project (theconversationproject.org) is a website focused on helping people talk about their wishes for end-of-life care

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