Posts by The Empowered Estate

By: Shelley Essery, Certified Executor Advisor What your family really needs to know. Thinking about your funeral wishes and making sure someone knows what they are can make future decisions easier for the people you love. Funeral planning doesn’t have to mean choosing every song, flower and reading. It can be as simple as deciding…

By Karla Kerr, Funeral Director & Death DoulaThe Empowered Estate For one person, it might mean being at home, surrounded by family. For someone else, it might mean receiving every medical treatment available for as long as possible. Someone else may prioritize comfort over longevity. And another person may feel strongly they want to have…

By Shelley Essery, Certified Executor Advisor There’s a certain silence that settles over families when the topic of end-of-life planning comes up. Not because people don’t care.But, because they don’t know where to begin. No one wants to upset their children.No one wants to sound morbid.No one wants to imagine illness, aging, loss, or death.…

By Karla Kerr, Funeral Director & Death DoulaThe Empowered Estate There’s something about a quieter house that changes the pace of everything. After years of reacting to everyone else’s needs, the days start to feel a bit more your own. That can feel freeing, but it can also feel strange if you’re used to being…

By Shelley Essery, Certified Executor Advisor Most people spend time thinking about their will, considering who receives what, how their estate will be handled, and who they trust to act as executor. But there is another type of planning that is just as important, and often overlooked. It’s called Advance Care Planning. Advance Care Planning…

By Karla Kerr, Funeral Director & Death DoulaThe Empowered Estate You have systems for everything. Client onboarding. Marketing. Invoices. Taxes. But if you died tomorrow… would your family know how to access your business? Shut it down? Transfer it? Even log in? Most ‘solopreneurs’ are the business. Which means when you die, your family doesn’t…

Shelley Essery, Certified Executor Advisor Family Day, here in British Columbia, is a reminder of what matters most. It’s about slowing down, spending time together, and taking care of the people we love, especially our kids. For many families, it also falls right in the middle of planning season. Spring break trips, summer travel, visits…

By Karla Kerr, Funeral Director & Death DoulaThe Empowered Estate January always has a certain vibe. The decorations need to get packed away, the fridge is full of leftovers, and the gift pile includes yet another bath bomb, mug, or box of calming tea. It’s not that we’re ungrateful. The love is real. But after…

By Shelley Essery, Certified Executor AdvisorThe Empowered Estate The Stories We Carry: A Reflection on Legacy When families gather in December, something soft and familiar awakens in all of us. The kitchen fills with old jokes. Someone brings up that story you have heard a hundred times. A moment of quiet lands, and suddenly you…

When someone dies, the people left behind are often grieving, overwhelmed, and unsure of what to do next. In the middle of their heartbreak, they’re suddenly faced with hundreds of decisions—and no clear map. The Empowered Estate focuses on memorial and funeral preplanning as a powerful, compassionate act of love, for the people who want…