Tips for Pre-Planning a Funeral in Jacksonville, FL

Pre-planning your funeral in Jacksonville, FL is a way to take the emotional and financial burden off your loved ones when you die. If it’s possible for you to pre-plan, you should—it guarantees you get exactly what you want out of your funeral while taking the planning off your family’s plate.

What can you pre-plan?

Pre-planning a funeral allows you to customize your service and goods ahead of time. For example, you can pick out the exact casket you want, pick the flowers and music and lock in your preferred funeral home. When selecting a pre-planning service, it’s wise to have an idea of what you want and how much it costs, to ensure your plan will cover everything you need.

If you decide to pre-plan, make sure you write down your instructions for the service and keep a copy with the funeral home as well as with the documentation at your house. Make sure that you let someone know where to find this important information, so they don’t double-pay for funeral services accidentally.

How to pre-plan a funeral

Here are the steps involved in pre-planning a funeral:

• Decide what you want to do with your remains: If you have strong opinions on how you want your remains to be handled, you’ll need to make that clear in your prepaid plan or end-of-life documents. You may wish to be buried in a specific plot, or cremated with the ashes scattered in a meaningful place. Whatever you decide, be sure to be very specific, and do the research to make sure it’s legal first.
• Purchase necessary items or a prepaid plan: Next, purchase your prepaid funeral plan and other items you’ll need, like a casket, burial plot and more. Most prepaid plans let you pay for caskets and other items and lock in the price.
• Make sure your will is up to date: After you’ve made funeral arrangements, update your will to make sure everything and everyone is covered. For example, you might have new grandchildren, or new major assets to account for and distribute. The more recent your will, the better. A lawyer can help you word your will to make sure it remains valid and covers all your bases.
• Leave detailed instructions: Next, write down your funeral instructions in as much detail as possible. If you want specific prayers, hymns, music or other details, include those in the document. The clearer you are, the fewer tough decisions your family will have to make when the time comes.
• Talk with a loved one: All the documents in the world won’t help if no one realizes they exist. Tell a trusted loved one where your important end-of-life documents are located and how they can access them when the time comes.
• Consider a payable-on-death bank account: Finally, you may consider setting up a payable-on-death bank account to cover any additional expenses that crop up. Ask your banker how to open one.

For funeral pre-planning in Jacksonville, FL, call ICS Cremation & Funeral Home today.

Categorised in: Funeral Plans

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