Pre-planning

Planning your funeral arrangements in advance allows you to take your time in deciding how you’d like to be celebrated after you’re gone. It also lets you give invaluable peace of mind to your family members by removing the burden of making those personal decisions during such an emotionally difficult time. Explore how pre-planning can be a meaningful and valuable process which helps those you love and removes any doubt about your end-of-life wishes.

Why plan ahead?

Learn about the benefits to planning ahead for your end-of-life wishes, and find out how we can help to make sure your plan is followed no matter where you reside at the time of your passing.

Pre-Planning Checklist
We can help to make sure you’ve covered all the bases when creating your plan. Our checklist will ensure you’ve accounted for all of the important decisions and remind you of the many options available to you in designing your arrangements.

There’s a lot that goes into planning a funeral, but making those arrangements beforehand gives you time to consider all of your options and make sure that you’re covering all of the necessary details. The following checklist will help you to make sure you’ve thought of everything when you begin creating your personalized plan.

Information you'll need to assemble:

Vital Statistics

  • This includes your father’s name, your mother’s maiden name, your level of education, and your social security number.

Affiliations

  • This includes fraternal, service, or union membership, along with any special recognitions you might have

If you’re a veteran, you’ll also need to include:

  • Military service
  • Branch rank
  • Date of enlistment
  • Date of discharge
  • Name(s) of war/conflict(s) toured
  • Serial number

Ways in which you can plan ahead:

General

  • Gather personal information for your obituary
  • Choose a charity to direct donations to, if desired
  • Choose a funeral home
  • Make note of any special instructions you desire for your services and final disposition

Funeral Service

  • Choose burial or cremation
  • Select a casket or cremation container
  • Choose the location and type of service
  • Decide whether you’d like to have a viewing or visitation
  • Choose a floral arrangement
  • Select which photographs and memorabilia you’d like to display
  • Consider any customs, traditions, or religious rites that are important to you and your family
  • Choose the clothing you’d like to be dressed in
  • Select music and hymns, if desired
  • Select a style for your stationery and memorial register book
  • Arrange transportation for your physical remains and your family
  • Brainstorm any additional ways you’d like to personalize the services or pay tribute to your accomplishments, hobbies, personality, and life story.

Participants

  • Choose a clergy member or officiator to preside over the service
  • Select any musicians whose talents you’d like to employ
  • Select pallbearers
  • Choose friends or family members to perform the eulogy, read scripture, or prepare a speech

Cemetery

  • Choose a cemetery
  • Select a burial or cremation plot, or a mausoleum, if appropriate
  • Decide between above- and below-ground burial

  • Select a memorial or grave marker and inscription





    Remember that there’s no need to make all of the decisions right away, and that the purpose of pre-planning is to allow yourself to take the time you need when considering your options and making the choices that are right for you. For personalized assistance in creating your plan, consult one of our experts by contacting us to schedule a one-on-one meeting.