Frequently Asked Questions

The Departure Suite is a one stop resource where you can prepare documents that will be required by your loved ones when you are in your final days, and after your death. The Departure Suite provides templates for: 

• Your Will
• Your Power of Attorney
• Your Funeral. This form includes important information that will be necessary for your advocates to receive your death certificate after you have gone.
• Your Advanced Care Directive
• Important contacts and information needed by your loved ones to enable them close accounts, subscriptions, utilities etc. after you have gone.

Departure Suite takes your security and privacy very seriously. Your data is encrypted. This means that Departure Suite employees are unable to access your personal information.

We use bank-level AES-256 encryption, SSL using 2048-bit certificates and other industry-leading security technology to guard your data.

If you complete the Will and Power of Attorney without getting them witnessed, they will not be valid.

The Will and Power of Attorney documents must be printed off, and signed in front of two independent witnesses over the age of 18. More information about who should witness your Will and Power of Attorney can be found in the FAQ section of this website. 

Once your Will and Power of Attorney documents have been witnessed appropriately, they will become legal documents. 

My Plan, My Will and My Advanced Care Directive are not legally binding documents. These documents simply provide guidance to those who are acting on your behalf if you are seriously ill or have passed away.

The people who witness your Will must be over 18 years of age. The must not be beneficiaries of your Will.

They must be present when you sign your Will. It is recommended that you also date your Will, and your witnesses record the date next to their signatures.

Yes, your account will remain available to you for the period of six months. Thereafter, should you wish to keep the account open, an six month subscription fee of $40 will be payable to the Departure Suite. 

You may cancel your account or your subscription at any time.

You can either:

• Share them with one of your two advocates designated within your ‘My Plan’ module. This will be dated and emailed to them.
• Print off your completed modules, and retain them in a safe place, 
• Print them and give them to the people you have nominated as having your Power of Attorney, or
• Give a trusted person your password for the Departure Suite account

Your Departure Suite Will will supersede all other previous Wills, only after it has been signed and dated by you and your witnesses.

It will not be valid if it has not been signed by you and your witnesses.

It’s entirely up to you how you go about completing your Departure Suite modules. You might want to have a breather between each module though.

We don’t recommend you rush through completing your modules, because these documents deserve a bit of time and effort. It’s absolutely worth giving each section due consideration.

Some people tell us that they have taken the opportunity to sit down with their loved ones, and complete the modules over a cup of tea or a glass of wine. It gives everyone the opportunity to come together and get a good understanding of your wishes. That way, there are no surprises after you have passed on.

It’s entirely up to you how you go about completing your Departure Suite modules. You might want to have a breather between each module though.

You can share your information with two Suite Advocates. 

A Suite Advocate is someone you trust enough to share your Departure Suite password with. This might be the Trustees of your Will, or your solicitor, or some other person that you feel will respect your wishes and your personal information.

We recommend that you DO NOT share your password via email, text or other electronic means, which might be accessed by unscrupulous people.

Your data is encrypted. Departure Suite employees are not able to access the contents of your account.

Departure Suite abides by the National Privacy Principles. Your contact details may not be shared with other organisations without your consent.

A ‘Suite Advocate’ is someone you trust enough to share your Departure Suite password with. This could be the Trustees of your Will, or your solicitor, or some other person that you feel will respect your wishes and your personal information.

You can nominate your Suite Advocate in the My Plan Departure Suite module.

We recommend that you DO NOT share your password via email, text or other electronic means, which might be accessed by unscrupulous people.

You can send your password to two Suite Advocates.

The Power of Attorney must be witnessed and dated by two people over the age of 18 who are present when you sign your Power of Attorney document. One witness must be authorised to witness the signing of an affidavit such as a teacher, justice of the peace, police officer, a municipal councillor or a dentist.

If your annual account fee is not renewed, your account will be suspended for 30 days, then in another 30 days it will expire. Your encrypted Departure Suite information will be deleted in accordance with privacy standards.

No one will be able to access your account information, after your account expires.

Yes

You can edit all account details within your My Account section once you have logged in. This includes:

• Passwords
• Email Addresses
• Address Details

You can also view and edit your transaction records from here.

If you to choose to opt out of the automated six monthly membership fee, your account will expire after six months.

You can cancel your account within your ‘My Account’ section.

Be sure you want to do this, as it will delete all of your documentation from your account and our Departure Suite servers.