1. Review our free Funeral Planning Guide for a list of issues to consider when making a funeral plan. This free guide provides information on choosing between burial and cremation, types of burial, types of funeral services, funeral and burial expenses, and burial assistance.
2. Make a few notes about your last wishes. Last wishes can be very simple or over the top, depending on your personal style. If you are passionate about a hobby, the arts, sports, or some other activity, you may want to incorporate that in your funeral plans. For ideas and examples, see Popular Last Wishes and Unique Last Wishes.
3. Decide whom you want to carry out your final arrangements. Review our article on the legal right to disposition of remains for steps you can take to appoint an agent and ensure your last wishes are honored.
4. Decide whether to prepay for your funeral or have the expenses paid by your estate or your survivors. For the pros and cons of making advance payment for funerals, see funeral prepaying. If you decide to pay these expenses now, meet with a funeral home or mortuary to select the services you want and purchase a burial plot or related items.
5. If you plan to have a headstone or gravemarker, decide if you want to choose your own epitaph. See our list of epitaphs and how to write an epitaph. Leave instructions regarding your epitaph in your funeral planning documents.
6. Complete a last wishes planner with instructions for your funeral and other final arrangements. Use our free last wishes form or choose from one of the planners featured on our last wishes planners page.
7. If you are concerned your next of kin may disagree with your memorial preferences, write a last wishes letter. This type of letter may also be used if you want to explain your last wishes for other reasons as well.
8. Make sure your funeral plan instructions can be located. The most important step in planning your funeral is to ensure your instructions will be followed. Give careful consideration to where you store your last wishes form and other funeral planning documents.
If you prepay for your final arrangements, sign a funeral services contract or purchase a cemetery plot, the paperwork for these items should be kept in a secure location where your agent or executor can find it. Ask your estate planning lawyer for guidance on the best way to store your funeral plan based on your unique circumstances and applicable state laws regarding disposition of remains. You may want to give a copy of your funeral planning documents to someone you trust or let them know where you keep them. Because funeral arrangements are very time sensitive, it is important that your funeral plans can be located immediately, rather than in several days or weeks. It is usually not a good idea to keep your funeral planning documents in a safe deposit box.
Use an Online Funeral Planning Tool
A trendy way to plan your own funeral is with an online funeral planning tool. One of the best funeral planning websites is TheFuneralSite.com. In addition to their funeral planning library, which features funeral planning resources from A to Z, they offer My Funeral, an online funeral planning tool which allows you to create a customized funeral plan in under an hour. If you want to plan something that represents your unique style or personality, using this method of creating a funeral plan is the way to go. You can add poetry readings, music selections, and many other details to create a memorable service.
TheFuneralSite.com also offers a directory of funeral homes so you can quickly contact a funeral home or mortuary in your area to finalize your plan.
Before Making Final Arrangements
Paying for funerals and related services is very expensive. This is in part due to the lack of transparency about the prices funeral homes charge for various products and services. Unless you meet with a funeral home directly to make final arrangements, it can be almost impossible to find out exactly how much certain items cost. If you are leaving instructions about your memorial preferences, you may need this information to ensure your family can afford to honor them.
Because most people have little or no experience making funeral arrangements, they are easily taken advantage of with regard to what is a fair price for these goods and services. By planning your funeral in advance, you have the opportunity to ensure your family is not faced with these decisions while they are in a vulnerable state.
One of the best resources for information about consumer rights with regard to funeral goods and services is the Funeral Consumers Alliance. Their site is a wealth of information regarding steps you can take to get the best price when planning a funeral. The Funeral Consumers Alliance lists state specific information on the laws governing funeral homes and mortuaries, as well as proposed legislation. They offer several free pamphlets that are worth reading before you finalize your funeral plans, along with state specific forms for appointing an agent to carry out the disposition of remains.