Making It Easier on Your Loved Ones: Planning Your Own Farewell
By Wendy Cornett

Contemplating the details of your own funeral may sound unpleasant, but there are two very practical reasons for doing so: 1) by putting your preferences in writing, you and your loved ones will have peace of mind knowing that your choices are recorded and will be carried out; and 2) you’ll protect your family from having to make these decisions when they are emotionally vulnerable and pressed for time.

Preplanning your funeral can be as informal as filling out a preplanning form (some are available online) and sharing your wishes with a family member. Funeral preplanning kits such as Before I Go, You Should Know, available from www.funerals.org, are another option.

To make formal arrangements, meet with your funeral director of choice. He or she will help you draw up a preneed contract, which will include a detailed breakdown of your choices and the associated costs. Your funeral provider will keep a copy of your selections and will give a copy to you. You should give a copy to your attorney and select family members. Review and, if necessary, revise your decisions periodically.

Whether you decide to enter into a formal agreement or draw up informal plans yourself, you have a lot of decisions to make. Do you want to be cremated or have a body burial? Do you want a religious service? Something contemporary? Are there meaningful readings you’d like included? You can be as detailed as you wish. You will need to choose your casket, urn or burial vault; your funeral notice and floral tribute; your cemetery and plot; even what you want to be wearing. Plenty of preplanning checklists are available online to help you cover all the bases.

Should You Prepay?

Preplanning your funeral is free; however, you may choose to prepay for all or some of the services.

Prepaying can relieve your family of any financial burden. Another reason for prepaying is to “lock in” the cost. You can pay today’s prices for a funeral down the road. Prepaying also ensures that you get the cemetery plot of your choice, since plots available now may not be available later.

Prepaid funeral contracts are also protected when it comes to determining eligibility for Medicaid. If you happen to end up in a nursing home, the state can’t force you to use the money in your prepaid funeral contract to cover any nursing home costs. Payable-on-death accounts through your bank are another option.

There are many choices involved in funeral planning. Making these decisions yourself when you have plenty of time to do so is a loving gift that you can give to your family.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 13th, 2006 at 5:13 pm and is filed under Pre-need. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.