Three Reasons To Make Decisions About Your Funeral Now

Posted on: 2 February 2016

Whether you expect it to occur in the near future or decades down the road, your funeral is something you should start to prepare for now. If you don't plan it in advance, you won't be able to influence the arrangements at all. So if you have any ideas about how you'd like your funeral to go, you should take the first opportunity to plan it. Here are three reasons why planning your funeral now is a good idea that can have a positive effect on the future.

1. Allow your family time to grieve 

If you die suddenly, your family will be in shock and totally unprepared to deal with the logistical details of funeral planning. And even if you pass away gently after a long decline caused by terminal illness, it's not fair to leave your grieving loved ones in charge of making big decisions at such a time. If you do, they may be more liable to be taken advantage of by unscrupulous business owners who might want to capitalize on their sorrow by offering them more and more "extras" or charging them higher prices than usual. If you find reputable businesses in advance and discuss prices with them (and perhaps even buy a burial plot in advance to lock in the price), you can diminish this possibility.

2. Prevent unresolvable disagreements

If you wish to have your remains cremated after you pass away, you'll need to communicate this to your relatives and start planning it in advance. Otherwise they may not realize how strongly you feel about it, or some family members (especially traditional, old-fashioned relatives) may argue in favor of a traditional burial. If your wishes weren't made clear enough during your lifetime to prevent this headlock, your family may end up in some difficulty trying to resolve this type of dispute. Forestalling argument may be as easy as informing several of your family members about your wishes during your lifetime, but to be extra sure, you should put it in writing. You can leave instructions in your will about how you want your remains to be taken care of.

3. Leave a legacy

Planning for your own demise may seem like a morbid activity, but it's really the surest way to guarantee that you can continue to make a difference after your life is over. For example, if you don't make a will, you can't be sure that the right people will receive what you want to give them of your own possessions. This pertains to funeral arrangements as well. Some important ways to plan ahead include taking out life insurance that will cover the funeral expenses, additional insurance to cover estate taxes during the transfer of your possessions to your heirs, and an insurance plan to benefit your favorite charity so your money can do good for years to come. You can even make specific plans to create a memorial legacy for yourself, such as by including a provision in your will that your cremated remains be interred in a memorial reef (a man-made reef off the East Coast of the US that's fostering new coral growth) so you can benefit the planet for many future generations.

As you can see, planning ahead can make your funeral arrangements go more smoothly, help give your grieving family some space from making big decisions, and allow you to continue to have an impact for good on the world long after your passing. For more information, contact companies like Foran Funeral Home. 

Share

Making a Lifelong Dream Come True

When I was a kid, I dreamed about opening a bakery one day. After graduating high school, I enrolled in college. During my college years, I took numerous, business courses. I ended up earning two business degrees. Eleven years after graduating from college, I made my lifelong dream of starting a business come true. Do you hope to start a new company in the near future? Consider hiring an experienced business consultant to help you accomplish this worthwhile goal. A business consultant can help you develop a comprehensive, business plan to present to lending institutions and investors. On this blog, I hope you will discover the most common tasks business consultants complete for entrepreneurs. Enjoy!

Latest Posts