Talking To A Funeral Director About Pre-Planning Your Funeral

Choosing the right funeral home is one of the most important decisions that you'll make when you're pre-planning your funeral service. Many people don't realize that funeral homes vary, so there's more to think about than the cost of your service. Your need to choose a funeral home that offers everything you need. So, consider these things before you make your final decision.

Planning a Traditional Service

When you're planning a traditional funeral service there are a lot of small details that you'll need to arrange, such as the type of flowers you'd like displayed and whether or not you want a photo slide show. However, there is much more to planning a traditional funeral service than determining what type of casket you'd like to be buried in and how large of a space you'll need for your viewing. You need to know what type of additional services the funeral home offers and whether or not they are included in the quoted price. You should ask the funeral director about:

• Body preparation services, like hair and makeup
• Embalming services
• Transportation to the burial site
• Graveside service

Planning for Cremation

Many people prefer to be cremated after they die. However, being cremated doesn't mean that you don't need to speak with a funeral director about your cremation and memorial services. Not only do you need to make sure the funeral home you choose provides cremation services -- some don't -- you need to talk to the funeral director about:

• Whether you'd like to have a traditional funeral service before your body is cremated. If you decide to have a traditional funeral first, you should ask the funeral director if the funeral home has caskets available to rent or if you'll be required to purchase a new casket for the service. Some funeral homes, such as Lisa Scott Funeral Home, have plain caskets available for people to rent if they are planning to be cremated after the service so that they don't need to purchase a casket that won't be using.
• If the funeral home doesn't offer cremation services, you should ask the funeral director who handles the cremation process and make sure you understand whether or not the cremation and body transportation fees are included in the quote you've received.
• Whether or not you need to fill out specific paperwork in order to be cremated, and if you do, does the funeral director take care of the paperwork or do you need an attorney to draw up Consent to Cremate paperwork?
• Would you rather have your ashes buried or will your ashes be stored in an urn. If you choose to have your ashes buried, is there a container provided by the funeral home or do you need to purchase an urn?

Talking to a funeral director about planning your funeral in advance isn't difficult as long as you know what questions to ask. As long as you're prepared to discuss all of your options, you should be able to pre-plan your funeral without an issues.