5 Ways to Keep Your Funeral Arrangements Simple for Your Loved Ones

No one wants to think of losing their loved ones or a funeral . Here’s how having your funeral arrangements ready will make it simple for when the time comes

It’s never easy to deal with a loved one’s funeral.

When you pass away, your friends and family members will need time to mourn and grieve their loss, but unfortunately, there will be work to do. Dealing with funeral arrangements is an unfortunate but likely scenario for spouses, kids, and other family members when you pass on.

But, it doesn’t have to be.

There are things that you yourself can do now to prepare your family as best you can to deal with the heartache and sense of loss that will inevitably come when you die. It’s a depressing thing to think about, but helping with your own funeral arrangements is something everyone should think about doing.

In this article, we’re going to go over 5 ways to keep your funeral arrangements incredibly simple for your loved ones. Don’t leave them with grief AND work to do in your absence.

Read along and think about how these things can help the people you love.

1. Make Sure Documentation is Sorted Out

The logistical side of planning for your own death involves a number of things. If you’re of a certain age or if you have an illness with which you might that you have to prepare for the worst, it’s wise to start thinking about the paperwork side of things.

You’ll also need to designate someone to carry out all of the things that you’ve laid out with the paperwork. Legal documentation designating someone to carry out funeral arrangements and wishes and authorizing them to make decisions is so important to making this all move forward quickly.

There is an order to designating your Power of Attorney. Usually, your spouse would be the first person on the list, but failing that, you would go down the line of family members from adult children to parents, siblings, all the way to distant cousins.

Legally designating someone to carry out your wishes will avoid any internal familial squabbling that could and often does occur after death. Unpleasantries can occur in times of distress, so try to mitigate these problems by having your lawyer help you draw up a binding document.

2. Sort Out Funeral Arrangements Now

If we could all see death coming, then we could easily make the necessary arrangements. Unfortunately, this is almost never the case. Being proactive with funeral arrangements allows you to prepare for unpredictable circumstances.

Setting aside the time now to make all of the funeral arrangements with your lawyer and POA allows you to rest easy knowing that if anything unexpected should occur to you, your family won’t have too much work to do. There are a lot more things that need to be done when you pass away than you might realize.

One of the biggest things is designating where your money and assets will end up. If you’ve got kids and a spouse, commonly you would leave certain percentages of your wealth and assets to them.

But, there are also other ways to go, of course. This is why designating a responsible and organized person to be your Power of Attorney.

The other big thing you need to sort out is what will be done with your body. It’s not a simple matter and it’s extremely morbid stuff to have to think about, but doing so will remove any confusion that might occur. Choose a traditional burial, or you can choose cremation, natural burial, or body donation.

3. Talk To Your Loved Ones

Beyond your Power of Attorney, it’s important to let your loved ones know what decisions you have made so that they know what to expect.

Avoid blindsiding anyone with information they didn’t expect to hear about your funeral arrangements. If you put it all out there, then there will be no additional disturbances on top of the grief due to your passing.

So often, we hear about loved ones squabbling over someone’s funeral arrangements because they weren’t made aware of their wishes. If they hear it straight from the horse’s mouth, then they’ll know that it’s you making these decisions, not your POA.

4. Be Realistic About It

Our society has trained us to be afraid of death, but it’s coming for everyone. Being realistic and even comfortable talking about death can lessen the blow of losing you, for your loved ones. Those who talk openly about death can give a sense of peace and comfort to the people around them.

Having a sense of humor about it all helps too. In a time of sadness, it’s important for your loved ones to know that you were alright with it so that they can be alright with letting you go. It might sound strange, but your actions have consequences for people’s emotions.

5. Saving and Insurance

Simply put, funerals are expensive. If you haven’t thought of it, take out a life insurance plan and start saving for the cost of your funeral now. Piling financial burden on top of the other emotional and family stress that we’ve discussed can make the grieving process last for far too long.

Don’t think of it as paying for your own funeral, but try to view it as providing one last bit of financial assistance to your family. Funeral arrangements cost thousands of dollars, so gradually putting money aside in your life insurance plan can help pay for that.

Make Arrangements Sooner Than Later

The bottom line is that if you get all of the funeral arrangements out of the way sooner than later, then you and your family can move on with living your lives. Being prepared for death goes a long way.

If a death has occurred in your family and they’ve requested a cremation, visit us to arrange a cremation online and get on with your grieving process.