Adios Amigos Guide: End-of-Life Planning in Mexico
The conversations, the paperwork, the Mexican legal reality, the final hours, and the grief that follows. Practical guidance for expat families anywhere in Mexico, covering funeral arrangements, cremation, legal protocols, and the Acta de Defunción. Rooted in years of hands-on care in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, and prepared in calm by someone who has sat in the room a thousand times. So no one you love is ever left guessing.
Why I finally wrote it all down.
Some families are years away from this. Some are in the middle of it tonight. Find the one that sounds most like today, and Lu will meet you there.
The Map
Where are you right now?
Choose the one that sounds most like today.
Looking Ahead
The Active Reality
The Aftermath
Nothing is wrong right now, but I want to be prepared before a crisis hits.
You are early, and that is a gift.
Almost nobody arrives here before something forces them. You have time that other families do not, which means every conversation you have now can be unhurried. Start by talking. The paperwork will feel simple once the people who love you already know what you want.
Why the course meets you here
A calm way to think through the conversations before you need them, the documents that matter in Mexico specifically, and eight Parts you can move through at your own pace. The whole thing is built to be read years before it is needed.
If you would like something to read today, this one is free.
We just received a terminal diagnosis, and no one knows how to talk about it.
The silence is not avoidance. It is protection.
Everyone in your house is trying to shield everyone else, and it leaves each of you carrying the same weight alone. The first conversation does not have to cover everything. It only has to begin. There are gentle ways in, and they work.
Why the course meets you here
The first Part opens with how to have the conversation nobody is having in your house right now, with real scripts I have watched work. The paperwork Parts come later, when you are ready.
If you would like something to read today, this one is free.
Someone I love is dying, and our reality is shifting week by week.
You are living in a season with no schedule.
The ground keeps moving, and you are asked to be steady on it. This is the stretch where families forget that presence matters more than performance. You do not have to manage this perfectly. You have to be there, and be honest about how hard it is.
Why the course meets you here
Part 3 is written for exactly this stretch. What being present looks like when you cannot fix anything, what is worth handling this week, what can wait. Nothing in it asks you to do more than you can.
I am providing daily care for someone who is dying, and I am utterly exhausted.
You are running on nothing, and nobody has asked how you are.
Caregiver exhaustion is not weakness and it is not failure. It is what happens when one person absorbs a load meant for several. You are allowed to put the brave face down. You are allowed to need help. Start there, before anything practical.
Why the course meets you here
Part 6 is the caregiver's Part, written for the person nobody thinks to ask about. It names the specific griefs you cannot say out loud, and gives you permission to hand things off.
I have received a terminal diagnosis, and I am the one who is leaving.
You do not have to manage anyone else's feelings today.
You are allowed to be frightened without comforting the room. You are allowed to want quiet, and to choose who sits in it with you. Before any documents, before any decisions, there is only this. What matters to you, and who you trust to protect it.
Why the course meets you here
Part 7 is written for you, not for the people around you. It is about your autonomy, your room, your wishes. You can read the Parts your family needs later, or not at all. This one is yours.
The final hours are here, or very close.
There is nothing left to fix. There is only being here.
You may be waiting for something to be required of you. Very little is. Lower your voice. Keep the room calm. Say the things you want said, even if there is no answer. What people remember afterward is not what was arranged. It is who stayed.
Why the course meets you here
When the end draws close, the fear of not knowing what to do can pull you out of the room. Part 5 of the guide is built for this exact window. It plainly explains what to expect physically in these final hours, the exact steps to take in the first two hours after they pass, and how to navigate the local Mexican protocol. Having the steps laid out means you do not have to panic or guess. You can just be present.
They just died, and I need to know what to do right now.
Take a breath. Here is what to do next.
Call 911 first, before the funeral home and before your consulate. That one call keeps the next two hours clean. Everything else can wait a few minutes. The guide below walks you through the whole first day, step by step, in the order it happens.
Why this guide meets you here
This covers the immediate first day only, giving you exactly what you need in the next few hours. There is nothing to buy and nothing to sign up for. The rest can wait.
They are gone, and I am trying to navigate the aftermath.
The paperwork ends. This does not.
People stopped asking weeks ago, and you are still in it. That gap is the loneliest part of all of this, and almost nobody names it out loud. Grief does not shrink on a schedule. What changes is your ability to carry it, slowly, and not alone.
Why the course meets you here
Part 8 is the Part nobody promises you. Grief after the paperwork is done. What the first months look like, how to pace the tasks that will not disappear, and how to keep breathing when everyone has stopped asking.
The whole thing, not the pieces.
You have probably seen the pieces before. A checklist for the first 24 hours. A worksheet about the conversation. A blog post about the Notario. Scattered, partial, and written for somewhere else.
And there is a question underneath all of it that most of us have quietly asked at some point. You live here, full time or part of the year, and you wonder what would actually happen if you had a medical emergency in Mexico. Who would come. Which hospital. Whether anyone would know your blood type or the name of your doctor.
This is all of it, in order, built for expats anywhere in Mexico. Whether you live in Baja California Sur, Lake Chapala, San Miguel de Allende, along the coast, or in the Yucatán, the core realities and paperwork are the same. Eight parts, forty-four videos, and printable pages you can fill in by hand with your own local contacts and keep somewhere your family will find them.
The heart of it is Lu on camera, speaking the way she would speak if she were sitting in your kitchen. Around that sits everything practical: the Life File your family opens first, the page that goes in your glove box, the letter your Local Designee will need, the checklist for the worst night.
One purchase, $149, with lifetime access. Add the printed book and the Emergency Readiness Guide for $219, including free tracked shipping across Mexico, the US, and Canada. Nothing else to decide.
“Most families are not unprepared because they do not care. They are unprepared because no one ever told them what to expect.”
The heart, the paperwork, and the days after.
Being with someone who is dying.
- The conversation nobody knows how to begin, and what to do when they say no.
- How to sit in the room when there is nothing left to fix.
- What holds a person steady at the end, whatever they believe.
- How to give someone permission to let go.
What to do, and when.
- The first call to make, and who not to call.
- The page that lives in your glove box, in case an ambulance is ever called.
- The Notario letter your family will actually need.
- Your Life File, built in calm rather than in crisis.
The part almost nobody says out loud.
- An entire part written to the caregiver alone, because nobody else is asking how you are.
- The relief that comes at the end, and the guilt right behind it.
- When you are the one leaving, and you are tired of being brave.
- Why laughter is not a betrayal.
Trusted by Local Professionals
“Lu’s course goes far beyond explaining the practical steps to take when someone passes away. It creates a healthy, compassionate, and pressure-free space for international residents in Mexico to navigate incredibly difficult circumstances with greater preparation, clarity, and peace of mind. Whether you are preparing well in advance or seeking guidance after a loss has occurred, the course meets you where you are. It is an invaluable resource for our international community.”
If you need something right now.
Some moments cannot wait. If a diagnosis has just arrived, Beginning the Conversation offers gentle words to help your family start talking while there is still time. If a loss has already come, The First 24 Hours is a clear, calm, step-by-step guide for exactly what to do, starting now. Both are free. No cart, no account.
You do not have to know what to do.
You only have to begin. Prepare while there is still time, so the people you love are held when it matters most.