Cremation Pre-Planning | What You Need To Know

Planning for your future involves many things, including college funds, savings accounts, investments, and retirement plans. But another crucial thing you must consider is funeral services. Read on to learn more about pre-planning your cremation and funeral arrangements.

What Is Cremation Pre-Planning?

Cremation pre-planning involves making funeral arrangements for you or a loved one ahead of time. While it may seem unnecessary to do so since you can still get at-need funeral services, there are many benefits that come with planning in advance, including the following:

• Peace of Mind

Pre-planning gives you the freedom to choose how you want your cremation and memorial to go—from the type of service to the kind of flower arrangements to be used. By letting your personal wishes on this day be known, you can make the preparations easier for your loved ones and be remembered how you want to.

• Cost-Effectiveness

Like most things, the cost of funeral products and services may rise over time. So, planning and paying for everything beforehand can save you money and reduce future financial burdens on your loved ones.

• Reduced Stress on Your Loved Ones

Upon your passing, the ones who will take care of your funeral will be the family and friends you’ll leave behind. By planning it in advance, you will reduce the time, stress, and effort your loved ones will have to expend if they do everything on their own. Through this, they will also have more time to spend with the rest of the family and grieve their loss.

How To Pre-Plan a Cremation Service

Making funeral and cremation arrangements in advance gives you time to consider all your options and make crucial decisions for your or your loved one’s final wishes. To help you pre-plan, here’s what you need to know:

• Know Your Options

As we all know, planning a cremation involves many decisions, some of which involve deeply personal choices. This includes the type of disposition and service, location for the internment, desired flowers, music, and videos to present, and so on. 

Planning in advance provides ample time to consider your options, thus helping you make meaningful choices without urgency. Besides that, doing so allows you to freely decide how you want to memorialize your or your loved one’s passing.

• Involve Your Close Friends and Family

While your personal wishes are essential in pre-planning cremation, it’s best to communicate these decisions with the rest of your family. The funeral service will be the place your loved ones can bid their final goodbyes, making it a meaningful place for them. Because of this, considering their thoughts and opinions during the planning process will help ease their mind about the future.

• Properly Document Your Wishes

Personal discussions are most effective when making funeral arrangements. But, depending on when you decide to pre-plan, it may take years before these are actually put to use. So, it’s crucial to have proper documentation of your or your loved one’s personal wishes.

After finalizing the details of the desired funeral services, you may share these with trusted family members or even a lawyer. Then, write all the details down and keep the documents somewhere safe and accessible for the members of your family. You may also make a digital copy for further safekeeping.

• Consider Prepaying for the Services

As mentioned earlier, one benefit of cremation pre-planning is its cost-effectivity. Although having enough savings is helpful, you have no control over possible price inflation in the future. So, if you decide to plan ahead, consider paying for everything in advance as well. 

Besides paying for current prices that have yet to be affected by inflation, doing so also reduces future financial burdens on your loved ones. The cost of cremation products and services vary, so take your time during pre-planning to find the ideal funeral home that fits your needs and budget.

Get Reliable Funeral Services Near You

While cremation pre-planning may seem complicated at first, you can always count on a funeral expert to walk you through the whole process. If you want to pre-plan your cremation or want to learn more about your options, reach out to a reliable funeral home near you.