Crafting a message for after death is a poignant way to offer comfort and warmth to your loved ones long after you’ve gone. Here we’ll help guide you on how to leave a message after death that provides solace, inspires and celebrates special moments shared together.

Why Create a Message After Death?

The act of leaving a message after death is a deeply personal gesture. It’s a final act of love and thoughtfulness. And it’s an opportunity to impart last wishes, share heartfelt sentiments, and leave tokens of love that continue to resonate. Here are some motivations behind creating a timeless message after death:

• Conveying Final Wishes: Clarifying your desires for your remembrance or the stewardship of your legacy can ease the burden on your loved ones, guiding them gently through their grief. A written letter or video documenting exactly what you desire in terms of funeral or will, ensures there will be no misunderstandings.
  
• Bridging Communication Gaps: Many people have a hard time expressing their feelings. Writing a letter or recording a message offers the chance to share feelings, ensuring nothing is left unsaid.
  
• Creating a Tangible Memory: A handwritten note or video message becomes a cherished keepsake, a source of comfort and connection for your loved ones to turn to.
  
• Imparting Wisdom for Future Moments: Whether it’s advice for life’s milestones or comforting words for future anniversaries, these messages act as a guiding light for your loved ones, a testament to your enduring presence in their lives. 

Who Should Receive a Message After Death?

Create a message after death for anyone who is important to you. This could include:

• Spouse/partner
• Children
• Siblings
• Parents
• Friends
• Extended family members
• Influential acquaintances  

Crafting After-Death Message

The format for your future messages after death will depend on what feels right to you. There are some more common formats to use but feel free to use this time to express your creativity and do what feels authentic to who you are and what you want to share. 

Traditional Ways to Leave a Future Message

• Written Letters: either by hand or typed, depending on your preference. If you type your letters and print them out, be sure to sign them. Seeing a sample of your handwriting, even if only a signature, may be special for the recipient. Leaving letters after death will give your loved ones something to read any time they want to feel like you’re still with them.
• Audio Messages: create audio files of messages to loved ones. This can be done on a cell phone, computer app or software, or an old-fashioned tape recorder. Audio is a good choice if you don’t feel comfortable being on video. 
• Video Messages: capture your message on video via phone, computer, or camcorder. Seeing your face and hearing your voice will help your loved ones feel connected after you are gone.

Creative Ways to Leave a Future Message

• Digital Time Capsule: This is a fun way to leave a future message for loved ones. You can be a combination of all of the above to create a time capsule or just focus on one platform. A time capsule allows you to include photos and mementos of events and experiences with recordings of your voice or captions to share the ways they impacted your life. 
• Ethical Will: A step beyond writing a letter, an ethical will is a way to share your memories, advice, and hopes and dreams with future generations. Different from a legal will, this document doesn’t have to follow any rules and can include anything you want to pass on to your loved ones.

Delivering Your Message After Death

There are many ways to leave a message to be received after your death. In some cases, you may want to appoint an executor to deliver them for you—whether in-person, through the mail, or digitally. In addition, there are apps available today that allow you to record messages, and they will deliver them for you. A quick internet search will show a variety of options available.

Here are other ways to send loved ones a message after death:

• Written Legacy: Write letters and storing them alongside your vital documents ensures they are discovered or can be handed out as per your instructions by the executor of your estate.
  
• Email Repository: Consider setting up an email account solely for this purpose, crafting messages in draft, or scheduling them with available email tools for future dates, thus celebrating milestones even in absence.
  
• Digital Vaults: Saving your messages on a hard drive or using digital platforms to keep them, entrusting access to a selected individual, guarantees the dissemination of your thoughts and wishes.

What to Talk about in a Message After Death

The message you leave for one person may be very different from what you leave someone else. Subjects you may want to cover in your future messages could include:

• Cherished personal stories and memories
• Expressing hopes you have for the message recipient 
• Vital end-of-life information about accounts or other instructions
• Important medical history for children to reference as needed
• Comforting words, wisdom, and perhaps advice
• Expressions of forgiveness

Creating the message you want to leave behind may seem intimidating, but don’t overthink it. Be honest, be concise, and be yourself. Your loved ones will cherish your words, and the thoughtfulness of how you shared them, for years to come. 

‍Read more: Expressing sympathy for the death of a loved one

Leaving a Message After Death