As I’ve just hit 50 I’ve started to think more about the practicalities of what would happen if something happened to me. As background - we don’t really do longevity in my family. I lost my grandparents and parents in my teens and early twenties. I’ve also lost uncles and aunts recently, my only sibling a year ago, and realised that if something were to happen to me, my next of kin are a few cousins who I am not close to, and don’t even know their contact details as we were never close and after our parents died just drifted apart. I have a boyfriend of 3 years but we don’t live together or share finances and we haven’t really talked much about the future yet.
My brother died very suddenly after a medical episode and it got me thinking. I’m fit and healthy but do very slightly risky things like climbing, high altitude trekking, and cycling to work. I have sorted my will out to ensure that godchildren etc benefit, but was thinking more about what to do if I were incapacitated - there is literally nobody left who I am close to and related to to make a decision like that. I was thinking about asking my best friend if she would be my medical and financial POA. I’ve known her since I was ten and she is the executor of my will. I don’t know anyone else who doesn’t have an obvious next of kin. Would this freak any of you out if you were out in that position?