Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1

Who is Empathy Loss Support™ for?

Accepted Answer

Empathy Loss Support™ is a benefit for bereaved individuals and families, offering personalized, step-by-step guidance through the emotional and practical challenges of losing a loved one. This benefit is provided by employers, insurance carriers, or other partner organizations.

Question 2

What does Empathy Loss Support™ help with?

Accepted Answer

Combining technology and human support, we help individuals and families navigate all the aspects of loss: planning a funeral, writing an obituary, closing down a loved one's accounts, settling their financial affairs, and more. With a team of Care Managers by your side, you are fully supported as you tackle each task, decision, and challenge. Plus, you have all of the information and advice to know that you are proceeding correctly.

Question 3

What services are available through Empathy Loss Support™?

Accepted Answer

Your Empathy account gives you access to the Empathy web and mobile apps, a comprehensive platform that provides guidance and assistance for the various challenges of loss. Individuals and families can connect with a Care Manager through a live chat, where they will learn about your situation. They can provide you with compassionate guidance, help you with certain tasks, and connect you to professional service providers in your area if you need them.

Question 4

How does the Empathy Loss Support™ app work?

Accepted Answer

After asking a few introductory questions, the app presents a personalized experience that helps you navigate the challenges of loss. Offering immediate guidance, you can access your personal Care Plan, a step-by-step roadmap containing all the tasks you and your family should tackle, laid out to best reflect your needs. Tap on each step to get all the information and guidance you need to complete it, and for links to tools within the app that can assist you with specific steps. You can also filter your Care Plan to show only the steps related to a particular topic, including Immediate Arrangements, Informing Others, The Funeral, Searching for Documents, The Will, Identity Theft Prevention, The House, Probate, Applying for Benefits, Managing Accounts, Bills & Debt, Property & Assets, Personal Belongings, and Taxes. In addition, the app contains extensive resources for helping to navigate grief, including a daily healing practice, audio guides, guided meditations, daily affirmations, a grief journal, and Community—a moderated, peer-to-peer support group.

Question 5

What tasks can Empathy Loss Support™ do for me?

Accepted Answer

Empathy gives you access to innovative tools that can lessen the burden for you. For example, the Obituary Creator can craft a meaningful tribute honoring your loved one's life based on your answers to a few questions. The app also allows you to upload and organize all important documents in your secure digital vault. With our Funeral Homes tool you can easily locate top-rated funeral homes in your area and receive price quotes based on your specific requests. Your Care Manager can also help you with a range of tasks, including obtaining necessary forms, contacting relevant authorities and offices, locating service providers, scheduling calls and visits, finding professionals in your area, and more.

Question 6

Who are the Empathy Loss Support™ Care Managers?

Accepted Answer

Our in-house team of Care Managers is composed of experienced professionals who come from diverse backgrounds in social work, behavioral health, and other relevant fields. Each member of our team undergoes comprehensive training in grief support under the direction of David Kessler, the foremost expert on grief and loss. Additionally, the Care Team receives instruction in estate planning and probate to provide tailored guidance to assist families in navigating loss. While your Care Manager can assist with general guidance and information about legal and financial matters, they are not legal or accounting professionals, and cannot provide you with specific legal or financial advice.

Question 7

How does Empathy support individuals and families in grief?

Accepted Answer

Grief is complex and different for everyone. Empathy provides support and guidance through the many aspects and pitfalls of grief with an array of resources and services that help you find balance and re-engage with life. You can listen to audio guides about the emotional journey of grief, open grief meditations, try daily affirmations, use the grief journal, access a daily healing practice, and connect with the Empathy Community. Care Managers are also available to offer guidance, advice, and a listening ear, and can assist you in finding the right therapist or grief group.

Question 8

Can other family members share my Empathy account?

Accepted Answer

Yes, grief is easier to carry together. Empathy Loss Support lets multiple family members or friends share a single account, so no one has to navigate loss alone. Simply invite others directly from the app via text message link. Once they download the app on their mobile device, you can collaborate on tasks, assign steps, and track progress together. Please note: The Empathy app is available on mobile only.

Question 9

How long can I use Empathy for?

Accepted Answer

The process of coping with a loved one's passing is deeply personal and can extend over months or even years. We offer support at each step, mainly focusing on the first year after loss. If your account is paid for by an Empathy partner, such as your employer or insurance carrier, your coverage will last between one or two years, depending on the terms of the agreement. However, we understand that every family's needs are unique. If you need more time or extra resources, feel free to reach out to us, and we'll do everything we can to support you.

Question 10

How much time will it take to handle everything?

Accepted Answer

Depending on the size and complexity of your loved one's estate, as well as what state they lived in, settling all of their affairs could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few years. But most can be completed in a matter of months, and our guidance will get you through it all with relative ease.

Question 11

My loved one died months ago. Can I still use Empathy?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. The Empathy app is designed to be responsive to your needs and can be used at any stage in the process, whether you're dealing with immediate arrangements, wrapping up the last details of the estate, or just looking for support during your grief.

Question 12

Do I need to be the next of kin or estate executor to use Empathy?

Accepted Answer

Empathy is for anyone who has experienced the loss of a close relative. We have resources that can help you if you're involved in planning a service, writing an obituary, organizing papers, or clearing out the house, as well as dealing with the difficult emotions that come with all of it. Additional family members can collaborate on a single account, so you can divide up all of the important tasks, share information, and track each other's progress. Some tasks dealing with probate and the estate should be carried out by the appointed representative of your loved one's estate, such as an executor or administrator.

Question 13

Do I need to know anything about estate laws to use Empathy?

Accepted Answer

Not at all. Everything in Empathy is explained in simple, easy-to-understand language without all the legalese and technical jargon. Any important terms that need to be defined can be found in our helpful in-app glossary. We'll give you the information you need to understand how estates and probate work. For personalized legal assistance, we recommend you contact an attorney, and we're here to help you search for one.

Question 14

What is Empathy LifeVault™?

Accepted Answer

Empathy LifeVault™ is a digital platform designed to help you create and manage your legacy planning documents, including your Last Will and Testament, Power of Attorney, Advance Healthcare Directive and more. With a secure storage solution for documents, Empathy LifeVault™ ensures that your medical, estate, and legacy wishes are clearly documented—and can be easily honored. The platform offers individual accounts for solo planning and couples' accounts for seamless coordination between spouses.

Question 15

What features does Empathy LifeVault™ offer?

Accepted Answer

Empathy LifeVault™ offers a comprehensive suite of services allowing you to create documents, securely store them, and share them with family members, all in one place. Designed with the goal of making legacy planning accessible to everyone, LifeVault provides trusted tools for creating and managing your Last Will and Testament, Power of Attorney for Property, and other essential documents, facilitating the smooth execution of your plan.

Question 16

Can Empathy LifeVault™ help me understand estate and legacy planning?

Accepted Answer

Empathy LifeVault™'s mission is to make estate planning accessible for everyone. We do this by walking you through legacy planning with a comprehensive suite of resources, created in collaboration with estate lawyers. This collection includes articles and guides that span a broad spectrum of topics, from drafting your Will to understanding the intricacies of Power of Attorney for Property. Our resources help demystify the process and empower you to make informed decisions about your legacy plan.

Question 17

Are the documents created with Empathy LifeVault™ legally compliant?

Accepted Answer

Yes. All documents generated in Empathy LifeVault™ follow comprehensive frameworks developed by experienced estate attorneys to adhere to both federal and state law across all 50 states, ensuring they are legally compliant and structured to hold up in court when relevant. For documents that require it, LifeVault also guides you through the necessary steps to properly prepare, finalize, and notarize your documents, thereby making them legally binding and enforceable.

Question 18

How does Empathy LifeVault™ assist in my legacy and estate planning?

Accepted Answer

Empathy LifeVault™ simplifies the entire legacy and estate planning process by providing a secure and user-friendly platform for creating, managing, and sharing your plan. With all of your important documents stored in one accessible location and shared with people you trust, you and your family will be well-prepared for the future. In addition, our robust Learning Center breaks down complex topics and helps sensitive planning subjects feel more approachable.

Question 19

Can I collaborate with others on my estate and legacy plan?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. Empathy LifeVault™ facilitates collaboration through two main features. Firstly, the couple's account option enables you and your partner to jointly create, view, and manage your legacy plan. Secondly, LifeVault allows you to grant family members or trusted individuals access to your Document Vault, allowing them to view and download documents. This helps ensure they are well-informed and can fulfill your wishes when needed.

Question 20

How do I access my employer-provided or insurance-sponsored Empathy account?

Accepted Answer

The employer or other provider that is sponsoring your Empathy account should have given you a unique access code. After downloading the app, you will be prompted to enter this code as part of the signup process. You will then be given access to your free account. If you have not received a code, or have forgotten or misplaced it, please contact your employer or the institution that is providing your access to obtain your code.

Question 21

Where does your information come from?

Accepted Answer

The knowledge and advice in our app and on our website have been thoroughly researched, under the supervision of and vetted by experts in the subject matter. While our information should not be considered a replacement for individual advice from your own lawyer or accountant, it will provide you with a basis for understanding the issues and steps involved.

Question 22

Does Empathy provide personalized financial, legal, or tax advice?

Accepted Answer

Empathy is not an accounting or law firm and not a financial advisor, and we cannot replace the services of a lawyer, an accountant, or a financial planner. Our guidance is meant to help you understand the ins and outs of the systems you may be dealing with, but we are not able to give individualized financial, legal, or tax advice. We can, however, help you search for professionals in your area whenever you need them.

Question 23

How is my information protected in the Empathy Suite?

Accepted Answer

Empathy is committed to ensuring that your data is and always will be safe, secure, and private. We use bank-level 256-bit encryption to store and transmit data over the internet, and your most private information is protected behind two-factor authentication including your own private PIN code.

Question 24

I am experiencing a technical issue with the app. What should I do?

Accepted Answer

Please reach out to our support team at support@empathy.com and we'll get back to you right away.

Question 25

What if my question isn't listed here?

Accepted Answer

Contact us at help@empathy.com and we'll do our best to answer any questions you have.

Empathy Loss Support™

Empathy LifeVault™

General Questions