In the background, John was busy compiling a handover of the household admin.
“He even wrote a plan for me titled ‘things you need to know’, packed with every household account, insurance renewal and MOT dates,” she says.
He had emailed their energy provider saying he would like Louisa to take over as the account holder due to his terminal diagnosis.
But instead, she was added as an additional name and had to close and reopen the account.
“I thought I was prepared for John’s death but the reality was so much harder than I could ever have imagined. He really was the other half of me. So when I had to face the death admin, I felt so vulnerable without him beside me.”
James and Amy’s mobile phone contracts were in John’s name, too. They were asked to take his death certificate into a store but still received texts that read “Hi, John”.
“I’m sure nobody’s doing this intentionally… but these companies could just get their bereavement services at a level that is not going to cause undue distress,” says Louisa. “There should be a standardised practice.”