Danielle...
- Laura Dolphin
- Mar 25
- 4 min read
Danielle is a freelance graphic designer. She works with small businesses in the UK and also has a big client, who she works with half the week as their design manager. Unfortunately, Danielle suffered from a cardiac incident whilst out with friends. Danielle’s next of kin (as per her medical records) are called, this is her mum Elisa. Elisa and her father Timothy arrive at the hospital, but unfortunately, Danielle did not make it. Grief stricken by their daughter's passing, it takes them several days to really accept what has happened. Danielle had made a will, but as she’d only recently moved out, she didn’t have a very complicated estate to have to deal with. But they were aware she was self employed as a graphic designer, but that was about it… Danielle didn’t talk much about the work she did, but she was proud of recently finding a part time freelance role in management. But they don’t remember the name of the business…
What happens next depends on 2 options. Did Danielle have, or not have WilPlus?
Version 1 - Danielle did not have WilPlus:
Whilst clearing out Danielle’s flat, they find various work items, like her laptop and a couple of folders. Unfortunately, they do not know the login details to her laptop. They now need to try and find someone who can access it, so that they can try and find out more information about her business, her clients, her debtors (a late payment invoice was also in the mail)... Unfortunately, they really struggle to find someone to access the pc, they aren’t really “tech people” and are not really sure how to deal with the situation. They are also struggling to access her phone to be able to do things like, updating her social media… They keep seeing messages, but they cannot do anything about it and again, as they are not social media savvy, are unsure what to do. Everything is incredibly stressful for the grieving parents…
In the meantime, Danielle’s big client has tried to contact her via slack and email. As that is how they normally communicate. They have checked out her LinkedIn, but there has been no recent activity. Has she just ghosted us?? Having only had a short relationship with Danielle, they do not know for sure if she’s that sort of person or not… After a couple of weeks, they decide to write a letter, so they do eventually find out that unfortunately Danielle passed. However, the confusion and loss of income, the loss of direction for the team… It’s caused larger issues that they are now having to resolve. Whilst an awful situation, they also have to deal with this, including accessing her work files and finding out she keeps most notes on her device, which means they cannot access it.
Her other clients relied on Danielle and start to leave negative posts on social media and other sites, as she has taken payment, then ghosted them. Unfortunately, they do not know much about her and are of course frustrated. It takes a huge amount of time to find out what happened and it was incredibly difficult to get their money back… One business, who was just starting out, well, it took too longer to get the money back and they didn’t have the replacement funds. This had a huge impact on their business launch and cost them thousands of Pounds in revenue.
As you can see, things can quickly escalate and the ramifications have a ripple effect, affecting all of the people working with Danielle. Whilst a hugely unfortunate situation, of course everyone was sad to hear what happened, many didn’t have a personal relationship with Danielle and were financially affected as a result of her lack of organisation and planning.
Version 2 - Danielle did invest in WilPlus:
Whilst clearing out Danielle’s flat, they find various work items, like her laptop and a couple of folders. They also find a large envelope labelled “WilPlus - in case of emergency!! Xx”. Curious as to what this was, Elisa and Timothy open the envelope to find the completed form, explaining how to access her laptop, where her clients information is stored, what type of contracts she has in place, where to find information on the business loan she took out and also, who she banked with etc.
Relieved to find everything in an easy to follow guide, Elisa and Timothy are filled with pride, that even beyond the grave, their daughter, who was always so organised, had left them with all that they needed to close everything down quickly and professionally. Upholding the pride their daughter had, in her business and how she presented herself.
Her clients, on finding out the devastating news, were informed of the action plan, files that were partly complete were shared with them so that they could continue the work. Access was granted to information she stored on her OneDrive and refunds, where appropriate were dealt with. Clients who were due to make payment, paid what was owed and Danielle’s parents were able to communicate with the company who provided the business loan.
Elisa and Timothy were also able to access Danielle’s social media accounts, and on doing so, found that her clients, with whom they had communicated with, had left some wonderful messages on her account. As per Danielle’s wishes, her accounts were kept live for a little longer, to ensure her followers and connections were aware of what had happened, after 3-months, the accounts were closed.
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