Planning a funeral for a loved one can be a heart-breaking process full of confusing, sometimes expensive choices.
You can alleviate this burden from your family by leaving written instructions for your final tribute.
There are many advantages to making your own funeral preparations.
Help Your Family When you plan your funeral in advance, you can save your family the trouble of covering the huge expense and facing the multitude of decisions that must be made.
Your loved ones will simply follow your written directions and use the funds you have provided.
This easy arrangement will be a blessing during their time of grief.
Also, consider purchasing a pre-need plan from a funeral home or establishing a funeral trust funded by a small life insurance policy.
Keep Your Estate Intact If you have not provided for your funeral expenses, your family may have to come up with the money and then be reimbursed from estate funds, or if funds are not readily available, some of your assets may have to be sold.
By providing for funeral costs up front, you can leave your family peace of mind when they need it most.
Have Your Wishes Honored When you create a written funeral plan, you can have the final say in your own send-off.
If you don't have any specific funeral requests, you can allow your family to make the decisions and your funeral plan may simply be a method to cover expenses.
On the other hand you may prefer to leave extensive details about the type of flowers, casket, burial or cremation and service you desire.
You may even wish to include notes about a song you would like played or a certain picture of you that you would like displayed.
Be sure to incorporate all of your wishes in your written funeral instructions and leave them where your family can find them before your burial or cremation.