“Create Your Own Funeral”: An Easy Approach to a Tough Subject - Hope 103.2

“Create Your Own Funeral”: An Easy Approach to a Tough Subject

A new website allows you to plan your own funeral and create a personal space for loved ones to visit after you’ve passed away.

By Mike CrooksThursday 16 Dec 2021LifeReading Time: 2 minutes

When Tabitha Robb’s mother made a request about the music she would like played at her funeral, it sparked a ground-breaking idea for the Melbourne real estate professional.

“She mentioned a particular Mozart song she wanted played, and it got me thinking,” Ms Robb said.

“How do I future-proof her wishes for her life celebration?”

The answer is a new web-based platform that works to “revolutionise Australia’s grief and death space”.

An end-of-life vault

Founded by Ms Robb, AddendoVault is a digital platform that provides a space to hold funeral ideas and wishes, messages from beyond the grave, photos and more.

“At a time of loss, things can be forgotten and become cloudy,” Ms Robb told Hope 103.2.

“This is a way for it all to be documented, so there’s a clearer direction, and everyone can be on the same page.”

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The entrepreneur points to research undertaken by the Groundswell Project in 2020 that has revealed most people avoid discussing funerals and wills with their loved ones.

“We often don’t want to talk about the possibility of our loved-ones dying,” Ms Robb said.

“So with AddendoVault, you don’t have to. People can securely store information which will be extremely helpful to their loved ones when they need it.”

Leaving a legacy

The platform offers either a free or paid account.

The paid account, which costs $169, comes with the option to leave unlimited information – about the person’s life, children, grandkids, pets – and to upload unlimited documents such as photos, prized certificates and perhaps a secret recipe or two.

People can also input their preferences for their funeral: what hymns will be sung, what flowers will be displayed, and what sort of casket the departed will rest in.

In this way, the entire process empowers people to not only plan their own funeral, but to curate their legacy for loved ones and future generations.

The person can nominate as many loved ones as they want to access the information. Such information is secure and cannot be altered by anyone other than the account holder.

How it works

Once the person has passed away, the nominated loved-ones will register the death and the platform will release the “vault” within 12 hours.

The information is held for 10 years.

“But we might be moving to a yearly subscription-based model,” Ms Robb said.

“As a society, we don’t talk about death and mortality enough. And I’m hoping to change this. The vault is a beautiful thing you can do for your loved ones. You’ll empower yourself and inform your loved ones when you’re no longer here. Plus, you’re never too young to future-proof your story.”

For more information visit the website.