Funeral preplanning can be daunting, and it’s often not something we want to think about while we’re still living. However, in certain scenarios, preplanning your funeral is essential to ensure the wishes of you and your loved ones are realised in your service and after the funeral care.
Losing someone you care about can be extremely distressing, and preplanning your funeral acts to ease the burden on your loved ones after you pass. It clearly outlines your wishes and can also ensure the financial costs are taken care of before you leave. This gives your loved ones peace of mind and allows them to focus on dealing with the grief they’re facing.
Why do you need to prearrange your funeral?
At Mortons, we deal with funerals day in, day out. It’s familiar to us. That’s not always the case for our clients. Clients come to us for guidance, wanting to make the right decisions for their loved one who has recently passed.
However, there are certain scenarios where the decision making process becomes a little more complicated.
For example, we regularly have clients who have been cohabiting with their partner for many years but are unmarried. Without a preplanned funeral, the partner left behind is often not legally entitled to make decisions regarding the funeral arrangements. Instead, this will fall to any children, siblings, or, in more complicated situations, the ex-partner where a divorce has not been legally finalised.
What’s involved in preplanning a funeral?
Funeral preplanning can be as detailed or simple as you’d like.
It’s important to start with a budget, and decide whether you’d like to prepay for your funeral plans, or have this taken out of your estate after you pass.
Prepaying for your funeral can alleviate any financial worries for your loved ones. Additionally, as the costs of funerals continue to rise, prepaying for your funeral will allow you to benefit from paying today’s prices and not the inevitably higher prices at the time you pass.
You can also plan for your funeral without prepayment, with payment only taken after you pass. In this situation, you can simply complete a ‘my wishes’ form that outlines your wishes. It also answers all of the common questions asked when arranging and purchasing the funeral, ensuring your loved ones have all the answers they need.
Your funeral plans can include details of anything you’d like, such as:
- Music to be played at the ceremony
- Funeral procession location
- Flowers for the ceremony
- Whether you’d like to be buried or cremated
- Where you’d like to be buried, or where you’d like your ashes to be scattered
- The type of coffin or casket you’d like
- The location of the wake
- Any other personal touches you’d like to make your day special for your loved ones.
Where to start with funeral preplanning?
Where to start depends on whether you’re looking to prepay for your funeral arrangements or simply note down your wishes.
If you’re looking to formally plan and prepay for your funeral, it all starts with a simple conversation. An informal chat with a funeral director can help them to get to know you, your circumstances and your wishes, before drafting any plans or requirements. From there, the funeral directors will work with you to realise your plans. There is no pressure to make any decisions in the initial meeting, and it can take several meetings to finalise all of the details to ensure it meets your wishes exactly.
If you’d simply like to record your wishes, you can complete a ‘my wishes’ form here, which will be stored until the time comes to finalise the details and pay for your funeral.
If you’re unsure whether preplanning is right for you, or you’d simply like to find out more about your options, get in touch here.