Pre-Planning Your Funeral: Tips To Help You Out

If you are looking to pre-plan your funeral so that your family and loved ones do not have to do much work in the funeral planning process, you are not alone. More and more people are deciding that pre-planning their final send-off is the way to go. Pre-planning a funeral may seem like a daunting task, but it does not have to be. If you use a few tips to help you out in the pre-planning process, it will go smoothly and easily for you. 

Consult With a Few Different Funeral Homes

Funeral homes are all different in what types of packages and prices they offer. The services at one funeral home may be minimal, while another is more of a full-service home. Shop around at a few different funeral homes before you settle on the one for you. 

Consider what they have to offer, the size of the funeral home, their prices, the location, and all of the other important factors of the funeral homes. Choose the one that best meets your needs for the most reasonable price. 

Set Up a Payable-Upon-Death Account

Rather than prepaying for your funeral (or in addition to putting in a down payment for your future funeral), you should set up a payable-upon-death bank account. You can fund such an account with as much money as you want to pay for funeral and other expenses upon your death. 

The beneficiary will be granted access to those funds after your passing. Talk to your beneficiary and let them know that the funds are first to be used for your funeral costs with the extra left over to go to any other expenses the beneficiary may have. That way, they can pay the funeral home for your funeral services upon the time of your death. 

Put Your Plans in Writing

Once you have chosen a funeral home and have set up the financials of paying for your future funeral, you will need to be sure you get all of your wishes down in writing. Everything you have planned, from the package offered by the funeral home to the exact casket or urn to the music and flowers at the funeral, should be included in your written plans. 

Be sure to keep an original copy of these plans with your important papers like your will and medical power of attorney. Then, you will also want to give a copy of these plans to the people who will be likely to be responsible for dealing with the set-up and final funeral planning, such as your children. That way, they know your wishes ahead of time and have a written copy for reference when the time comes. 

Now that you know a few tips to help you with pre-planning your funeral, you can get the process started as soon as possible.