How to Pre-Plan a Funeral: A Step-by-Step Checklist

Thinking through your own funeral ahead of time isn't easy, but it spares your family from having to make hard calls later, during the hardest week of their lives. Here's why pre-planning matters, along with a checklist to walk you through each step.

Why plan ahead?

Big decisions go better when you have time to think them through, and funeral planning is no exception. Deciding things in advance helps you in a few ways:

• Lighten the load on the people you love. Pre-planning spares your family from making stressful choices during an emotional time, and it can ease the financial burden on whoever survives you.
• Speak for yourself. You're the one being honored, so it makes sense to have a say in the planning. Deciding ahead of time lets you shape your own send-off and tell your family what you want, so the funeral ends up reflecting you.
• Cut costs. Paying for the funeral in advance can lower the total bill for you and your family, and it can help you get more out of Medicare and Medicaid.

Find funeral professionals who can help

A funeral director can be a real resource as you plan and weigh your options on cost and other details. They're experts on everything from choosing a casket to setting up a memorial fund.

Talk with directors at two or more funeral homes. Ask each one for a general price list so you can compare the services offered and what each costs. Share any special needs or unusual requests you have. If a particular home can't accommodate you, ask the director to point you toward one that can.

In this checklist

• 1. Decide on burial, cremation, or another option.
• 2. Pick a type of ceremony.
• 3. Decide how your legacy should be honored.
• 4. Choose how to cover funeral costs.
• 5. Put your final wishes in writing (your estate plan).
• 6. Secure your account details.

1. Decide on burial, cremation, or another option.

You'll need to settle on what's right for you — burial, cremation, or an alternative. Do you picture a traditional service at a funeral home or cemetery, or something more personal at a meaningful place? A funeral director can explain how to arrange whichever path you choose.

Traditional burial

A traditional burial involves embalming the body, placing it in a casket, and lowering it into a vault below ground, covered with soil. The grave is usually marked with a headstone, giving loved ones a place to visit and reflect.

Natural burial

A natural, or "green," burial preserves the body using non-toxic materials and buries it in an eco-friendly container made from a sustainable material such as bamboo, cotton, or seagrass.

Cremation

Cremation uses heat to reduce the body to ash. Those remains can be kept in an urn, scattered somewhere meaningful, buried in a cemetery, placed above ground in a columbarium or mausoleum, or added to a memorial garden.

Water cremation

Also called bio cremation, flameless cremation, or alkaline hydrolysis, this method uses a liquid-based process to reduce the body to ash-like remains. It's gentler on the environment than standard cremation, though it's offered by fewer providers.

Donating your body to science

Donating your body for medical research is one way to keep contributing to the world after you're gone.

2. Pick a type of ceremony.

There are more ways than ever to mark a life. Maybe you want your ashes scattered over a favorite lake, or maybe you'd rather be buried beside family in the traditional way. Either way, you get to decide what kind of service fits you best.

Traditional funeral service

A traditional service takes place at a funeral home or graveside at a cemetery, with the casket present and often time set aside for a viewing. (This kind of service can still be held after cremation.)

Memorial service

A memorial service honors someone's memory without the body present. It often follows a cremation or private burial and can be held at a funeral home or a less conventional location.

Celebration of life

Or you might prefer something that captures who you were — a small gathering at home, a party with music at a favorite hangout. Some families spend weeks putting together a celebration that tells their loved one's story.

Military funeral

Veterans and active service members are entitled by law to a free military funeral honors ceremony. It can be held wherever you're laid to rest and usually includes at least two uniformed service members.

A note on location and timing: When you're deciding where to hold the service, think about how many guests will attend and whether anyone has physical limitations. Give any family or friends traveling long distances enough time to make arrangements.

3. Decide how your legacy should be honored.

How do you want people to remember you? Leave notes for whoever will deliver your eulogy or write your obituary. (Some people choose to write their own obituary in advance — it's more common than you might think.) Mention any causes you'd like people to support in your honor.

Name as it should appear

Spell out exactly how you'd like your name to appear on death certificates, in the obituary, on your grave marker, and on any donations made in your memory, so there's no confusion later.

Charities to support

Tell your family which charities you'd like people to support in your memory — whether it's a cause close to your heart or an organization you've given time or money to.

Newspapers to notify

List the publications where you'd like your obituary to run, and share that list with whoever will handle the arrangements.

Who writes the obituary?

Whether you write it yourself or work with a family member or friend, preparing your obituary in advance gives you a chance to reflect on what matters most to you and how you want to be remembered.

Who writes and reads the eulogy?

Whether it's your spouse, your children, or a close friend, deciding ahead of time who will speak at your service takes one more decision off your family's plate when the day comes.

4. Choose how to cover funeral costs.

Planning ahead spares you and your family last-minute financial stress. Talk with a funeral director or financial planner about the tradeoffs between life insurance, burial insurance, prepaying a funeral home, and different types of survivorship bank accounts.

Joint bank account

A simple joint account with rights of survivorship is often the easiest route. It won't earn much interest, but your family can access it quickly, without red tape, when the time comes.

Prepaying through a funeral home

If you can afford it, this option lets you make every decision yourself so your grieving family won't have to. Depending on the terms, it may or may not lock you into that specific funeral home.

Payable-on-death savings account

You're the only one who can access this account while you're alive. After your death, your named beneficiary can claim it, but they'll need to present your death certificate first, which isn't always available right away.

Burial insurance

A burial insurance policy sold through a funeral home pays out for funeral costs immediately. Depending on how long you carry the policy, you could end up paying more in premiums over the years than the funeral actually costs.

Whole life insurance

A whole life policy from an insurance company stays with you if you move, though the company may take up to 30 days to verify and pay the claim.

5. Put your final wishes in writing (your estate plan).

Six documents make up your estate plan and help your family carry out your wishes.

Last will and testament

Your will spells out what should happen to your assets and belongings after you die.

Living will / DNR order

Your living will states your preferences if you face a life-threatening illness or injury.

HIPAA release

This document lets family members access information about your medical care.

Power of attorney for health care (healthcare proxy)

This names who can make medical decisions on your behalf if you become incapacitated.

Power of attorney for financial matters

This names who can make financial decisions on your behalf if you become incapacitated.

Funeral plan

Keep your funeral wishes in their own document, separate from your will, so your family can find and follow your instructions when it matters.

6. Secure your account details.

Whoever you name as your representative will need details like usernames and passwords for your banking, insurance, utility, and social media accounts. It also helps to note where to find key documents such as your birth certificate, Social Security card, and mortgage or lease.

Usernames and passwords

• Login details for online accounts, including email

Insurance

• Policy numbers for life, home, auto, and health coverage

Social media accounts

• Profiles and login details for Facebook, Twitter, Google, and similar platforms

Banking details

• Account numbers, usernames and passwords, and safe deposit box key

Utilities

• Account details for electric, gas, water, phone, and cable

Where to find documents

• Where your end-of-life papers are kept and how to access them