Not Your Average Death Blog
Why You Need (or Don’t Need) a Trust
If you’ve ever been told, “You need a trust,” and didn’t quite know what that meant, you’re not alone.
It’s something people hear from well-meaning friends, financial advisors, or maybe even their parents. But rarely does anyone slow down and explain why you might need one or whether it makes sense for your situation.
That’s what this week’s Tuesday Triage episode is all about.
Preparing for your Parent’s Cognitive Decline Before it’s too Late
When a parent’s health starts to decline, the questions you never wanted to ask become urgent. Bills still need to be paid, decisions still need to be made. Are you legally allowed to step in?
This week on our first Tuesday Triage episode, I tackled a question from a listener named Molly. Her situation might sound familiar to you.
How to Succeed in the Caregiving Role No One Trained You For
Caregiving isn’t side work - it’s a leadership position. Host Jill Mastroianni talks with Jennifer O’Brien, author of Care Boss and The Hospice Doctor’s Widow, about the emotional labor, strategic thinking, and societal blind spots surrounding caregiving. Drawing from her experience leading healthcare organizations as well as caring for her husband and parents, Jennifer challenges the notion of caregiving as “soft” work and offers real-world tools to do it well. We cover everything from palliative care to “go bags” to how not to offer help to a caregiver.
It’s Going to Be Okay
In this episode of The Death Readiness Podcast, I’m not speaking as an estate attorney or a podcast host. I’m showing up as a daughter, a sister, a mother. A woman in the thick of the sandwich generation—caring for a child, walking alongside a father, and quietly planning for the day I’ll be the one who has to tell Dan again: “It’s going to be okay.”
Macaroni’s Story: Why We Hit Record—and Why You Should, Too
If you’ve been listening to The Death Readiness Podcast for a while, you know we often get into the legal mechanics of estate planning, end-of-life documents, and the practical steps that make life easier for the people we leave behind. But death readiness isn’t just about having the right paperwork. It’s about preparing your family for the day when you’re no longer here. It’s about preserving who you were—what you believed, what you lived through, what mattered to you.
And that kind of preparation doesn’t come in the form of a checklist. It comes in the form of stories. That’s why this episode - Macaroni’s Story: A Granddaughter Records Her Unknown Hero - is special. We’re sharing an excerpt from The Mastroianni Family Podcast—and giving you the tools to create a private family podcast of your own.
The Care We Can’t Do Alone: Real Talk on Aging and Support
In this week’s episode of The Death Readiness Podcast, I had the opportunity to talk with Mikelle Rappaport, a senior care consultant and founder of Golden Lifestyle Partners, and Bob Stanton, a family friend who recently made the difficult decision to move his wife of 54 years into a skilled nursing facility.