Woman wants wishes carried out after death

Dear Len & Rosie, I was advised to plan out a will, but I am running into a problem. I am not a rich lady, and my will was done by my church at no cost to me. In the event of my death, I want my wishes to be carried out to the letter. I don’t want any of my immediate family notified of my death. Is there way to prevent this from occurring? I also do not want an autopsy on my body, as I feel that it would be disrespectful. I have had arguments with the coroner’s office about this. Is there any way to make sure my wishes are carried out? — Tammy

If your estate is subject to probate in the courts, or if you die with a trust, then your relatives who would have inherited your estate by default, the “intestate heirs” of your estate, are entitled to notice of the probate or trust administration, even if the will or trust disinherits all of them. If you want to avoid providing them with any notice, then designate pay-on-death beneficiaries to all of your accounts. If you own a home, you can record one of the new Transfer on Death deeds, which are revocable so you may update them at any time.

With respect to the disposition of your remains, you need an Advance Health Care Directive, so that someone you trust can make arrangements for your burial or cremation after your death. If you can afford it, you may also prepay for your funeral and burial or cremation arrangements.

In your Advance Health Care Directive, you can specify that you don’t want an autopsy, but that may not put an end to it. Usually an autopsy is performed when a deceased’s treating physician isn’t willing to sign off as to the cause of death. You can count on an autopsy being performed if it appears that your death is the result of foul play. In cases of suspected homicide, the law considers the interests of the people in finding and punishing your killer to be more important than your right to privacy.