Memorial and Funeral Service Pre-Planning

Pre-planning your funeral may seem an uncomfortable task, although it is a very responsible thing to do as it lifts the burden and stress levels your family would otherwise feel after your passing.  Pre-planning your funeral also makes certain that your wishes for your funeral or memorial service are fulfilled exactly the way you want.

Is funeral pre-planning right for you?

When you pre-plan your own funeral, you lift the burden of making simple and difficult decisions off of the family you’ve left behind. For example, you loved one may be thinking “What kind of casket would my mother have wanted?”, “What kind of flowers would my mother have wanted?”, “Where would my father have wanted to be buried?”  Regardless if it’s a big decision or something small, if you can organize this before the time comes, it takes the burden off those you’ve left behind.

Some funeral homes try to upsell products and services to clients by playing with their emotions, saying things like if you really loved them, you should spend more on their funeral.  By pre-planning your funeral, you remove this kind of sales pitch and guilt trip from your family you left behind.

Most people who pre-plan their funeral are also trying to remove some of the financial burden from their loved ones.  If this is one of your reasons also, make sure to select an appropriate financial plan. There are several things to consider when trying to lift some of the financial burden from your loved ones.  Inflation as well as new charges may spring up that the original agreement does not cover.  As a result, your family would be responsible to pay these new charges.  Funeral prices tend to double every 10 to 12 years.  You may also look into funeral insurance.  This option allows you to specify the amount of money you would like available for you funeral or memorial service and most policies accumulate interest keeping secure against rising inflation costs.

If you’ve decided to pre-plan your funeral, do your research and be sure to look around at the various options. Since you are not in a state of grief, you may even be able to do some negotiations to lower your costs.  Prices for all funeral related products and services vary greatly from place to place. Insurance, cemetery plots, caskets to name of few are some of the higher priced items.  If making these decisions sounds difficult for you now, try to think how difficult it would be while your family is grieving your loss.

When all your decision have been made, and the arrangements are set, you should contact a lawyer and have this information added to your legal will. And if you don’t yet have a legal will, now is the time to make one.  This will guarantee that you wishes will be kept.  Online wills are gaining popularity and are generally much cheaper.

In conclusion, those who pre-plan their own funeral save their from family from making rushed decisions and higher levels of stress.  Take the time to contact several funeral homes and save your family money and time by preparing as many things as possible before the time comes.  If not, you should at least speak with your family to let them know your preferences so when the time comes, they will already be aware of many of your wishes and will not have to make these decisions on their own.

More Related Information

Funeral Service Checklist
Burial Insurance – Funeral Insurance
Funeral Costs
Funeral Planning