How Passings creates and reviews its end-of-life planning content

Passings publishes guides on funeral planning, estate planning, grief support, and advance care planning. Our readers are often navigating one of the most difficult experiences of their lives — sometimes under urgent time pressure, sometimes months or years in advance of need.

Accuracy matters everywhere. On topics involving health decisions, legal rights, financial choices, and grief, it matters more. This page explains how we research, write, and review our content, and what standards we hold ourselves to.

Our editorial mission

We believe that clear, accurate, emotionally appropriate information helps people make better decisions for themselves and the people they love. End-of-life planning has historically been treated as either a legal transaction or a source of dread — we think it can be neither.

Our goal is content that meets readers where they are: accessible to someone reading on their phone at 2 in the morning after a diagnosis, but also thorough enough to be genuinely useful to someone doing careful advance planning. We do not write to generate anxiety or pressure action. We write to reduce confusion and give people the information they need to move forward at their own pace.

Research process

Every guide we publish is grounded in primary and authoritative secondary sources.

Primary sources we rely on:

• State statutes and regulations (for state-specific legal information)
• Federal law and federal agency publications (IRS, SSA, CMS, FTC)
• The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) standards and data
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vital statistics
• Social Security Administration publications
• State funeral regulatory board guidance
• Peer-reviewed research on grief and bereavement

Secondary sources we use with care:

• Established legal and financial publications
• Peer-reviewed journals covering grief, palliative care, and end-of-life medicine
• Published academic work on funeral industry practices and consumer protection

We do not rely primarily on other websites. We trace information back to the source document wherever possible, and we distinguish between what law requires, what is common practice, and what varies by jurisdiction.

Writing standards

Plain language: We write at approximately an 8th to 10th grade reading level. We define jargon when we use it and avoid unnecessary technical terminology. Our goal is a reader with no background in law, medicine, or finance being able to understand and act on the information we provide.

American English: All content uses American English spelling, grammar, and usage conventions throughout.

No pressure or urgency framing: We do not use countdown language, artificial scarcity, or framing designed to provoke anxiety. End-of-life planning topics are inherently emotionally weighty — we do not add to that weight unnecessarily. Our style guidance explicitly prohibits urgency-based copy.

Emotionally appropriate tone: We write for readers who may be grieving, recently diagnosed, caregiving under stress, or simply confronting their own mortality. The tone is calm, direct, and respectful. We do not make light of difficult topics, but we also do not dramatize them.

No legal or medical advice: Our content provides general educational information. We explain how laws work, what options exist, and what questions to ask professionals. We do not tell individual readers what they should do, what their legal situation is, or what medical decision is right for them.

Accuracy standards

Legal and regulatory claims: Every specific legal claim in our content — about what a state requires, what a federal rule says, what a statute permits — is tied to a primary source. We do not repeat conventional wisdom without verifying it. We note when laws vary by state and direct readers to authoritative state-specific resources.

Statutory accuracy: Articles covering state-specific law (advance directives, probate rules, disposition law) are reviewed against the relevant statutes. We note the date of our most recent review.

Annual updates: We review all published articles at least once per year. Articles covering information that changes regularly — fee thresholds, benefit amounts, state law — are reviewed more frequently and updated whenever material changes occur.

Immediate updates: When a law changes — a new state legalizes aquamation, the Social Security Administration updates survivor benefit rules, the IRS changes an applicable threshold — we update the relevant articles promptly.

Numerical data: Financial figures (average funeral costs, retirement contribution limits, estate tax thresholds) are sourced and dated. We note when figures are estimates or averages, and we identify the source.

What we cover — and what we do not

Topics we cover:

• End-of-life planning: advance directives, legal documents, estate planning concepts, beneficiary designations
• Funeral and disposition planning: funeral options, costs, the FTC Funeral Rule, pre-planning
• Grief support: grief processes, support resources, grief after specific types of loss
• After a death: practical guidance on what to do when someone dies, administrative tasks, working with providers
• Provider guidance: how to evaluate funeral homes, cemeteries, cremation providers, and other end-of-life service providers

What we do not do:

• We do not give legal advice, financial advice, or medical advice. Our content educates; it does not advise.
• We do not recommend specific legal strategies, investment products, or treatment decisions for individual readers.
• We do not replace consultation with a licensed professional. For complex estates, serious illness, or contested family situations, we recommend working with qualified attorneys, financial advisors, and healthcare providers.

Our commitment to YMYL accuracy

Search quality evaluators classify end-of-life planning content as "Your Money or Your Life" (YMYL) — a category where misinformation can cause real harm to readers making consequential decisions.

We take this classification seriously. Our accuracy review process is more rigorous for content in this category than for general informational content. We do not publish claims we cannot verify. We distinguish between general legal principles and state-specific rules. We note limitations and direct readers to qualified professionals when the situation warrants it.

If you are a professional — an attorney, funeral director, financial planner, or grief counselor — and you believe something in our content is inaccurate, please let us know. We welcome corrections and update content promptly when errors are identified.

How to report an error

If you find an error in any Passings resource — a statute that has changed, a fact that is incorrect, an outdated figure, or anything that seems wrong — please contact us through the contact page. Tell us the article title, the specific claim you believe is incorrect, and if possible the source you believe is correct. We review every report and update content when corrections are warranted.

Review cadence and dating

Every article in our resource library includes a published date and an updated date. When we make substantive changes, we update the date and note what changed where appropriate.

Articles are reviewed:

• Annually as a routine cycle
• Immediately when relevant laws or regulations change
• When reader corrections are received and verified
• When new primary sources significantly change the accuracy of existing claims

Our content team maintains a review schedule for all published articles. Time-sensitive articles — those covering benefit amounts, cost figures, and state-specific legal requirements — are on an accelerated review cycle.

Frequently asked questions

Are Passings articles written by attorneys or medical professionals?

Our content team includes writers with deep expertise in end-of-life topics and a thorough research process grounded in primary sources. We do not represent our content as legal, medical, or financial advice. For complex situations, we encourage readers to work with licensed professionals. The Passings marketplace can help you find estate planning attorneys and other qualified providers in your area.

Why doesn't Passings cite sources within articles?

We balance comprehensiveness with readability. Our primary audience is general readers navigating difficult circumstances, not legal researchers. We maintain internal source documentation for all factual claims and provide direct links to authoritative sources where appropriate. If you are a professional or researcher who needs our source for a specific claim, contact us and we will share it.

Does Passings have a conflict of interest in its content?

Passings operates a marketplace that connects families with funeral planning and estate planning providers. Our editorial content is produced independently of our commercial relationships. Providers listed on the Passings marketplace do not influence, review, or pay for inclusion in editorial articles. Our editorial guidelines prohibit recommending or steering readers toward specific commercial providers in educational content.

How do I know if an article applies to my state?

Articles that cover topics that vary by state note this explicitly and, where possible, provide state-specific information or direct readers to state-specific resources. Articles covering federal law note that they apply nationwide. When in doubt, consult a licensed professional in your state.

What Passings Can Help With

Passings is an end-of-life planning platform that combines a guided planning experience, a secure document vault, and a marketplace for end-of-life service providers.

Our resource library — including this article — is free and does not require an account. If you find our content helpful and want to take the next step toward completing your own plan, Passings provides the tools to do it in one place: guided checklists, document storage, and access to vetted local professionals whenever you are ready.

Disclaimer — For informational purposes only

This article is compiled from publicly available resources and is provided solely for general informational purposes. It does not constitute and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, tax, insurance, medical, psychological, or other professional advice. Passings is a planning and organizational platform, not a licensed advisory service, and no attorney-client, financial advisor-client, or other professional relationship is created by reading this content.

Laws, regulations, financial products, and professional standards vary by state and change over time. Passings makes no representations or warranties — express or implied — regarding the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or suitability of any information contained herein. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Passings disclaims all liability for any loss, damage, or harm arising from your use of or reliance on this content. Always consult a qualified, licensed professional — including an attorney, financial advisor, CPA, or licensed counselor — before making decisions specific to your situation.

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