Although it can be morbid to think about, planning your own funeral can be a great way to protect your family and put your affairs in order. Here are some of the benefits of pre-planning. 

Relieve Your Family's Burden

The first benefit is to help your family avoid making difficult decisions about your funeral plans while they are in grief. Planning the funeral ahead of time will lighten their load and allow them to focus on remembering you and dealing with their grief. 

Make Your Own Choices

If you want to have a non-traditional funeral, it may be best to plan it for yourself. Although you can make requests in your will, funeral pre-planning is the best way to ensure that all of the little details are done how you would like them to be done. 

Avoid Inflation and Control Costs

When you fund your funeral ahead of time, you don't have to worry about the costs of inflation that could occur if you leave the financial details open-ended. You'll also be able to control the costs and have a very simple funeral plan if you'd like; family members might feel reluctant to have a modest funeral service for you, but you can take the cost into your own hands instead. 

Leave More Insurance and Assets for Your Survivors

Without pre-funding your own funeral, the costs may come out of your life insurance plan or your personal assets. If you would rather gather the money and pay up-front for the funeral, then more of your assets can go to your survivors rather than to funeral costs. 

It Helps You Organize Your Documents

Another reason to pre-plan your funeral is that it gets you thinking about organizing your personal papers. Your family will need to settle your taxes, conduct your will, pay off your debts, and cancel any insurance and subscriptions in your name. Pre-planning your funeral is a great time to sit down and organize these documents, in case they are needed before you're expecting to be ready. 

Planning your funeral now can help to alleviate some uncertainty and be a great gesture of care towards the family members who will need to make arrangements for you. Your funeral director can walk you through the checklist of items to choose for your funeral, including choosing your own casket and memorial items, so that the process is fairly straightforward and painless. 

For more information, talk to a funeral home like Ahlgrim & Sons Funeral And Cremation Services LTD.

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