If you look up the statistics on death, you’ll quickly find that you have a 100% chance of dying.
All kidding aside, the truth is that we will all breathe our last breath at some point, leaving our families with sadness and mourning. Additionally, they’ll be the ones planning our funerals.
You can relieve this stress by taking the time to plan your funeral beforehand. Of course, planning your funeral isn’t something you might eagerly anticipate. Yet, it’s a fact of life that you might want to address before you die.
This guide helps you learn how to plan your own funeral and the reasons to consider doing this right now. If you’re interested in learning these things, please continue reading this article.
Reasons to Plan Your Funeral
Many people view funeral planning as a routine part of their estate plans. An estate plan protects your assets and ensures that your loved ones receive your things after you die. However, estate plans have other goals, too.
While planning your estate, a lawyer might also recommend planning your funeral. Here are several excellent reasons to begin your funeral plans now:
To Relieve Your Family’s Stress
First, consider the way your family will feel when you pass away, especially if it’s a sudden and unexpected death. Losing a close loved one is hard, mainly because death is final.
Therefore, your family will face the burden of mourning their loss of you. This time is stressful for families, yet they’ll be forced to plan your funeral right away.
You can ease some of your family’s stress by relieving them of these duties.
For example, if you plan your funeral before you die, your family won’t have this burden. Instead, they can enjoy each other’s company and mourn for you.
They’ll still have tasks to do to prepare for your funeral, but they’ll have less to handle. As a result, they’ll have fewer decisions to make, and they won’t feel rushed to decide how to handle everything.
To Ease the Financial Burdens
Secondly, preplanning your funeral eases the financial burdens your family faces after your death. One of the critical parts of funeral planning is determining how to pay for it.
If you figure this out before you die, your family won’t struggle financially. Your family won’t have to cut back on the services you receive or ask others for help.
If you want to protect your family financially, preplanning your funeral is one of the best options. You’ll learn more about this funeral-planning aspect later in this article.
To Ensure the Right Funeral and Services
Finally, planning your funeral helps you ensure that you have the type of funeral, burial, and service that you want. If you don’t leave a plan for these things, your family might not know what to choose.
They might argue about the options, which can lead to more stress.
Once you die, you’ll no longer have a say. You’ll no longer be able to tell your family what you want, so it will be up to your close relatives to handle everything.
Instead of leaving them guessing, you can draw it all out through a funeral plan. As a result, they won’t have to guess, and you can have the funeral you want.
The Main Steps to Plan Your Funeral
You can see why planning a funeral is essential, but you might wonder about the steps needed to plan yours. Here are the primary steps you must take when preplanning a funeral:
Meet With a Funeral Home
The first thing you can do to begin your planning is meet with a funeral home. Before doing this, you must choose one. You can search your local area to determine your choices. Next, you might want to visit a few homes.
For example, do you have a preference from past funerals you attended? If not, you might want to drive by some local funeral homes to see where they are and what they look like.
You can also schedule appointments to discuss preplanning a funeral with one or two funeral homes. When meeting with a director, you can tour the homes and ask questions.
As a result, you’ll learn more about each funeral home, and you can use this information to choose the best one for your needs and desires.
Consider the Options
Planning a funeral also requires considering all your options. You can research funeral options to learn more about the details you must decide on or use for your funeral plans.
But, you can also learn more about your options by meeting with a funeral director. A funeral director can help you learn the value of preplanning this event. They can also help you learn about the decisions you must make.
Considering your options can help you plan a proper funeral for your needs, desires, and budget.
Purchase Life Insurance
The next step in planning a funeral is purchasing life insurance. While this step is not mandatory, it’s extremely helpful for your family. Life insurance comes in several types, and you can choose a policy based on your needs.
Life insurance provides a cash payout to the beneficiaries. You can name one person as a beneficiary or many. Then, when you die, your beneficiaries can file a claim on the policy.
After proving you died, the life insurance company sends a check for the policy’s value. Your family can use this money to pay for your funeral if you haven’t paid for it yet.
Settle the Plans
When you consider your options, you can select your plan. Selecting your plan helps you lock your funeral in place. Then, when you die, your family can follow this plan to provide you with the funeral you want.
Let Your Family Know
Finally, it would help to let your family know that you planned your funeral. Then, you can discuss this with them and tell them which funeral home you used for your plans.
You can also include these details in your will. You should also let them know where your will is, so they can find it when you die.
Decisions to Make When Planning Your Funeral
Your family must follow your funeral plans when you place them in writing, and here are some of the decisions you must make:
Burial vs. Cremation
First, do you want your family to bury you or cremate you?
You can compare some of the pros and cons of these options before deciding. One benefit of cremation is its affordability. It costs less than a burial.
Viewing vs. No Viewing
Next, do you want a viewing of your body? Even if you choose cremation, you can have a viewing, but it will cost more. The funeral home must prepare your body for the viewing before cremating your body.
If you decide to have a viewing, you might want to pick out your clothing. You might also want to give instructions about your hair, jewelry, or other details related to the viewing.
Type of Service
You can also decide what type of funeral service you want. For example, you can have a service at the funeral home or your church. You can have the service a few days after your death or at a later time.
Additionally, you might want to name some people to speak at your funeral service, or you could pick a singer to sing a song. You can also choose songs to play or sing at your service.
How to Handle Your Remains
You may also want to decide how your family should handle your remains. For example, if you want a burial, you can pick and purchase a burial plot.
If you choose cremation, you can choose an urn and decide which family member should keep it.
How to Cover the Costs
Another decision is how to cover the costs of the funeral. If you purchased life insurance, you may want to use the proceeds to pay for it. You can also purchase funeral insurance to cover the costs.
Your Obituary
Finally, it might also be helpful to write your obituary. Your family might need to update it after your death, but at least they would have a good starting point.
Don’t Wait too Long: Start Your Plans Today
As you can see in this guide, planning your funeral is helpful, important, and thoughtful. If you want to plan your funeral, you’ll need to speak with a funeral home to start the process.
You don’t have to plan the entire event in one day, but you shouldn’t wait too long. Instead, it would help if you considered starting the process today.
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