6 Things You Should Do Now to Prepare for Your Own Funeral

Death is inevitable, the one appointment that we may be able to put off but never fully cancel. It will happen. And when your family does not know the intricacies of how you want to be remembered during your funeral, or there may be some emotional barriers, your funeral may not be the ceremony you were hoping it to be.

Here are 6 ways you can plan and prepare for your own death and commemoration:

• Do the paperwork to designate who will be in charge of decision making for your funeral.
  • Without authorization, there is a default order for who will be in charge of decision. First is the legal spouse, then adult children, then parents, then siblings. The most effective document to authorize a different person that that is called a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care (DPOAHC).
• Make sure the documents are legal and kept where everyone can find them.
  • Ensure that your designated agent is aware of and willing to undertake their responsibilities. Secondly, make sure the document is signed and notarized, making it a legally binding document that the funeral home can trust.
• Consider your funeral options now—so your loved ones don’t have to do it later.
  • After your passing, your family and loved ones may be in mourning and in a haze of grief. The last thing you would wish upon them would be more stress. 
• Sit down with your loved ones to tell them what your funeral wishes are.
  • The most important decision is the disposition of your body – whether you wish to be cremated or buried. This might be an uncomfortable conversation, but your family will need the guidance.
• You can start saving for your own funeral now.
  • Hard truth: funerals cost money, even the most frugal ones. The caring option for your loved ones is to have it already paid for when your time comes.
• Remember that death is natural, and there’s nothing morbid about discussing yours—this is about making life easier for those you leave behind.

See Ace Ratcliff, 6 Things You Should Do Now to Prepare for Your Own Funeral, Self, August 30, 2018.

Special thanks to Carissa Peterson (Hrbacek Law Firm, Sugar Land, Texas) for bringing this article to my attention.