Funeral Planning Made Easy – 10 Tips Revealed

1. Keep a registry that details all your important documents.

This can be a journal (notebook) or a file on your computer that is a record of all your funeral planning. Cremation or burial preferences, whether you would like to donate your organs, all insurance policies, your veterans information, where your will is located who has access to your safe deposit boxes and where they are, along with other estate planning info and make sure this book or file is easy to find.

2. You Gotta Tell Somebody…

Especially the person who is designated the “go to” person who will handle all those affairs when you pass on. Draft a document (other than your will) that gives your loved ones a general idea of your wishes.

3. Who Ya Gonna Call?

Make it absolutely clear which funeral home to contact and which services you want. This will prevent any confusion about how much money to spend and eliminate unnecessary expenses that may be incurred. When selecting your funeral home or care provider consider their reputation and longevity of the business for the future. Will they still be in business when you require their services? Most often price and location are the main deciding factors when deciding. Don’t fall into that trap. A good way to find a reputable funeral home is become a member of a memorial society.

4. Educate yourself regarding cremation and burial expenses

Know “how much these things should cost” before you talk to any service provider. What is included in “basic” services. Get an idea of the price of merchandise. Hidden costs quickly add to the final price. For example: what will extra copies of death certificates cost, transportation fees, storage costs, charges for administration, etc.

5. Who will look after you? (if you are unable?)

Make your health care decisions while you are of sound mind. Don’t let someone make them for you. Talk to your family physician and your lawyer. Get them down in writing and make it part of your “registry” . Appoint a power of attorney and make a living will. If it is your desire, get a Do Not Resuscitate Order drawn up. Your health care provider or attorney can assist you in obtaining these forms and advise you where to file copies. Make copies for yourself and family as well.

6. Appoint a financial planner

In the event that you cannot take care of your own financial affairs you should appoint a financial planner. A General and Durable Power of Attorney will allow a trusted friend or family member to  to manage your financial affairs. By setting up a living trust and designating a trustee you can have your property taken care of. The fore mentioned articles may help to avoid the expense and trouble of having the court designate a Legal Guardian if you become disabled. Check with your local seniors resource center to see if they may have a workshop that covers this topic. They often have other resources for funeral planning.

7. Have a memorial service without the body present

Consider direct cremation or direct burial to avoid the expense of having a body embalmed and to avoid the need for an expensive casket. Following the cremation or burial, the family should be encouraged to hold a simple memorial service in a home, place of worship or community hall. A memorial service will give everyone a time to share memories and share support for each other.

8.Investigate pre-paid funeral plans

Don’t jump into one because your chosen funeral home suggests you should. Although it is the ultimate Funeral Planning Made Easy, funeral homes make the bulk of their income from pre need sales. The sales people are well paid, most are honest, but consider what will happen to your money in the future.  For someone that is terminally ill or living on borrowed time, it makes perfect sense. For others it may not be the best choice. Consider the following:

• The cost of paying in advance as compared to paying at death, will you lose any investment income from the money spent?
• The possibility that the funeral home may go out of business or be bought out by another company.
• If you move to another area of the country, what happens to your arrangements. Can they be transferred?
• Make sure that friends or family know about your pre arrangements. Make sure at least two other people know about your arrangements and have documents that demonstrate exactly what you paid for and have the ability to make sure the contract is carried out in full.
• Will the prices change in the future or are they frozen at the rate you paid.
• Does the package have everything that you need or does is it complete. Are there alternatives that will be  less money? Get a complete detailed list of the package to comparison shop.
• Does the funeral home provide you with a complete copy and one for your loved ones so that everyone will know what you have selected.
• The first rule in finances is “pay yourself first” Having said that consider setting up a fund that you pay into strictly for your final arrangements. This way you have complete control and can earn interest on your money.

9. Sign a Disposition Authorization form before you die

If the state you live in allows it, specify in writing whether you are choosing burial or cremation and authorize the funeral home to implement your wishes without further authorization. In some states, you can also appoint the person authorized to pick up cremated remains. File this form with your important documents and ensure someone else has a copy and also knows the location of the original. The original document will need to be presented to the funeral home at the time of death. The next of kin must sign the documents if  if cremation is desired and the documents have not been signed prior to death. This usually requires the signature of the spouse and all the surviving children. Having the DIsposition Authorization properly signed and notarized before death occurs can save the survivors time and stress and ensure that your final wishes are carried out.

10. Investigate joining  a funeral consumers organization

Most memorial societies or organizations were founded to educate people to to make cost effective sensible funeral planning. Not all societies are equal. Some have gotten lazy over the years. A good society should be able to assist members in making all their final arrangements and obtain good prices for funeral arrangements and cremation services.

Funeral Plans – New Ash Scattering Device

Here is something I have not seen before. It makes spreading the cremation ashes very simple and adds a dimension of wonder to the process. It takes 2 1/2 minutes to spread. They have been around for awhile but the idea is not mainstream. To find out more about the  company the name is  ANGEL AIRE.

Funeral Etiquette or How to Behave at a Funeral

Funeral etiquette: customs across cultures

Going to a relatives funeral is hard enough when you know how to act at the memorial service. North America is home to people from all parts of the globe and from every religious tradition. Every religion has its own unique way of dealing with death and dying. When a friend, neighbor, or coworker from another culture dies, it’s helpful to understand the rituals and customs of that culture in regard to funeral services and expressions of sympathy. The following funeral information will help you to honor those customs and to extend your condolences appropriately without inadvertently causing offense.

Buddhist funerals

Buddhists believe in reincarnation and see death as a transition to the next incarnation, bringing the soul closer to nirvana, a state of absolute bliss. Buddhist funerals are, therefore, occasions of celebration, marking the soul’s ascent from the body.

During the viewing of the body, guests offer condolences to the family, bowing in front of the casket to honor the fleeting nature of life. Guests are not expected to participate in the ceremony, but rather to quietly observe the rituals, standing or sitting as directed.

For a temple ceremony, men should wear a tie and women may wear a dress or skirt and blouse – comfortable clothing that is suitable for sitting on the floor during meditation. In the Buddhist tradition, flowers or donations may be sent to the family, but gifts of food are considered inappropriate.

Hindu funerals

Hindu funerals are usually held within 24 hours of the death. Friends may call on the family at home where the body is usually kept until the traditional cremation. Visitors may bring flowers, which are placed at the feet of the deceased. Guests leave the funeral service as soon as the cremation begins, and then gather with the family for a meal and prayers. Friends may also visit the family to offer comfort during the 13-day mourning period. Traditionally, visitors bring gifts of fruit to the grieving family.

Jewish funerals

A Jewish funeral service is conducted in a funeral home or the family home as soon as possible after death – typically within 24 hours. Funeral attire consists of dark-colored clothing, a dress or skirt and blouse for women, and a jacket and tie for men. Men also wear a head covering known as a yarmulke, which will be provided by the funeral director for non-Jewish male guests. Guests should refrain from wearing symbols of other religions, such as a cross.

Only family members attend the burial. Condolence visits by friends and extended family are welcomed during the seven-day mourning period known as shivah. Friends and neighbors may prepare the family’s first meal following the funeral and may also bring gifts of food during shivah. If you bring food, make sure it is kosher, unless you know for certain that the family doesn’t keep kosher.

Charitable donations are fitting memorial gifts, but floral gifts are inappropriate at the funeral or during shivah.

Muslim funerals

Muslims bury their dead as soon as possible in order to free the soul from the body, according to Islamic custom. At the simple funeral service preceding the burial, men and women are seated separately, and women cover their heads and arms. At the cemetery, mourners accompany the body in a silent procession to the grave site.

The Muslim period of mourning is three days, and condolence visits are welcomed during this time. Friends share their sympathy by listening to the family’s expression of grief, asking Allah to show mercy on the deceased, and encouraging acceptance of His will. Friends may bring food to the grieving family, but gifts of flowers are inappropriate.

Protestant funerals

Protestants are members of any of a large number of non-Catholic Christian denominations, including Lutheran, Methodist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and Baptist, among others. Protestant funerals may incorporate a variety of customs according to the wishes of the deceased and the family. The funeral is held at a funeral home or at a church, typically within three days following the death. Appropriate expressions of sympathy include writing a note of condolence, attending the viewing of the body or the funeral itself, sending flowers, making a donation to the church or a favorite charity of the deceased, or bringing food to the family’s home. Funeral guests should dress in a respectable manner, although black clothing is no longer considered essential.

Roman Catholic funerals

Most Catholic funerals include a wake, a funeral service, and prayers at the graveside where the body will be laid to rest. On the day of burial, a brief funeral service may be held at the funeral home, or the body may be transported to the church, where a Mass known as the Rite of Christian Burial is offered. At both the wake and the funeral, non-Catholics are welcome to participate or to sit and witness the ceremonies silently; only Catholics are invited to receive communion at Mass, however.

Floral arrangements sent to the funeral home or to the family’s residence and donations for Masses to be offered in memory of the deceased are fitting expressions of condolence at a Catholic funeral.

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Low Cost Funeral Plans: The best way to save money on a funeral is to plan it and pay for it now

– YAKIMA, Wash. — Sandra Saling never thought she’d outlive her son. He was only 33. He died a few weeks ago, leaving behind a wife and five children.

No one had set aside money for a funeral.

Saling doesn’t want her loved ones to worry about money when she dies, so she’s paying for her funeral now.

“When it’s my turn to go, I want it all taken care of,” said Saling, 61, of Yakima. “I just want them to talk about the good things.”

By planning for her funeral now, Saling will also save money. According to AARP, the price of a funeral doubles an average of every seven to 10 years.

But by making monthly payments over several years — before there is a crisis — the price can’t change. For example, if you pay for a $6,000 funeral in Washington and die 20 years later, no extra costs will be incurred by your family.

The money for prefunding funerals is put into an insurance policy or trust that can’t be touched. Merchandise isn’t bought and stored.

Instead, the casket you pick — or a comparable one if the original is discontinued — is ordered when needed.

“The goal is to give the least amount of money possible to the funeral home,” said Lyn Dasso, who handles preplanning for Langevin-Mussetter Funeral Home in Yakima. “The longer you wait, the more you pay.”

If more people knew about the advantages of preplanning, Dasso said they would clamor to take part. As a member of Dignity Memorial — a network that includes more than 1,000 cremation, funeral and cemetery providers in America and Canada — Langevin-Mussetter can offer some specialized services. (OOTC:SSRV)

For example, the conglomerate prepares preplanning contracts that provide free funerals or cremation services for unmarried children and grandchildren younger than age 21. The type of service could be as elaborate as what paying customers select for themselves.

There’s also national transferability, meaning if people move more than 75 miles from where the original arrangements were made, their prearranged funeral services are fully transferable to any Dignity Memorial provider throughout North America, said Janet Roy-Knautz, a funeral director at Langevin-Mussetter Funeral Home.

Many other funeral homes across the country offer similar services, in addition to arranging transportation of remains throughout the United States and abroad.

If preplanning isn’t an option, there are other factors to consider when preparing for a funeral on a budget. First, cremations are not necessarily cheaper. If families want a service and a viewing, the body still needs to be prepared, said Kathy Birdwell, general manager for Shaw and Sons Funeral Directors in Yakima.

“Either one can be less expensive. It depends on many choices,” she said.

The options are seemingly limitless. The cheapest route would be cremation without a service — which includes transfer of the remains from the place of death to the funeral home and the crematory, the crematory fee, flowers and an urn. At Langevin-Mussetter, the package price is about $2,900.

In the Yakima Valley, typical funerals cost from $5,000 to $7,500, but there is no limit to how expensive they can get, Dasso said. A top-of-the-line casket alone can cost $20,000.

Then there’s the matter of where remains can be buried. Because private property changes hands, Washington state law dictates bodies be buried in designated cemetery land.

Cemeteries decide the rules for body disposal, such as if bodies can be buried in cloth verses a casket. There are four cemeteries in Yakima and several more throughout the Yakima Valley.

Different rules apply for cremated remains. Officially, people need to ask permission of land owners before scattering the ashes or burying them, but they can be buried on one’s own property, Roy-Knautz said.

“If you sell, you have to divulge that cremated remains are there,” she said. “If you don’t, (and the ashes are discovered) the new owners could sue you for mental anguish.”

There are other interesting dimensions of Washington state law, Birdwell said. People need to know that if they write their wishes and file them with a funeral home — or they get their wishes notarized — those funeral plans cannot be altered by family members. That’s why Birdwell recommends people share their plans with loved ones to avoid confusion and disputes.

“It’s a good protection for people,” she said. “We certainly want to honor what people want.”

Birdwell said people should be up front with funeral directors about what they can afford. Sometimes, packages — which commonly include flowers, the casket, body preparation and transportation — can be a good deal. Other times, people can save money by doing without or providing some items themselves. This could include forgoing a limo in favor of the family vehicle and printing funeral programs at home.

“They can even do the service on their own, without the aid of a funeral home,” Birdwell said. “We can help them think outside the box if they let us know what is important.”

Sharon Wyrick of Boise, Idaho, appreciates this insight. She also signed a preplanning contract at Langevin-Mussetter when her sister, Saling, got hers done. When Wyrick dies, she wants her loved ones to share stories and celebrate her life — not worry about funeral bills.

“I want to make my own choices instead of letting someone else take care of it,” said Wyrick, 59. “Too many people do too much glamor at the end. I want them to have margaritas and eat chips for me.”

–Erin Snelgrove can be reached at 509-577-7684 or esnelgrove@yakimaherald.com.

Home Funeral Plans becoming more popular

Funeral Plans – Home Funerals

Keeping funeral care in the home can also keep costs down. The price of an average funeral is about $6500  according to the national funeral directors association. A home funeral is a fraction of that price.

This video gives a window into the possibilities of a home funeral.

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