If you’re beginning to plan for the future with an estate plan, you may also want to consider funeral arrangement planning. Funeral arrangement planning best ensures that your wishes will be respected, and can help to keep your loved ones from having to make difficult decisions in a time of grieving. Take a look at the following information, to better understand this planning tool. If you have any questions, or if you’d like to discuss your own funeral arrangement plans, contact an estate planning attorney.
- Planning Ahead Lessens Stress. When you die, all of your loved ones will be highly stressed, dealing with grieving. It will be a difficult time to learn new things or to make decisions. When you plan your funeral ahead of time, your loved ones can focus on their grieving and moving ahead as a family.
- Planning Ahead Avoids Overcharging. When you plan ahead, you can say what you want and what you don’t want; your family won’t be pushed into paying high prices for something you don’t care about. Funeral homes are required to give charges over the telephone, so you don’t feel pressure in person. In addition, they are required to disclose which services are required by law and which services are optional.
- Planning Ahead Avoids Your Loved Ones Fronting the Bill. During pre-planning, you can choose to set up a bank trust fund for your funeral arrangements, or you can dictate how payment will be made in the future. This can save your family the trouble of having to deal with the added expenses and fronting the bill, which can be quite substantial. The average funeral costs about $6,500.
- Planning Ahead Avoids Family Disagreements and You Get What You Want. To have the funeral you want, your loved ones need to know what you want and what they should do. If you choose not to plan, your loved ones will have to guess their way through the planning. This can create family tension and can cause disagreements, if family members don’t agree what they think you would want. You can avoid this issue by making or outlining funeral arrangements yourself. Be sure to let your loved ones know where you keep your funeral instructions and other important papers.
If you have any additional questions about the importance of funeral arrangement planning, consult with an experienced and qualified estate planning attorney.
Timothy P. Murphy is an estate planning and elder law attorney whose practice emphasizes helping people to build, preserve and pass on their wealth. He works with his clients to accomplish their goals while avoiding unnecessary court proceedings and minimizing or eliminating exposure to death taxes.
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