Peace of Mind: The Gift of Pre-Planning and Prefunding Your Funeral

Have you ever considered what will happen after you’re gone?  Maybe you’ve written a Will, indicated the beneficiaries of your assets, and had some important conversations with your loved ones. But have you considered the events and rituals that will symbolize the life you’ve lived? There’s a funeral to be planned, arrangements to be made for your burial or cremation, and your assets will need to be distributed by the executor of your Will – all while your family will be grieving.

With all of the logistics that need to be planned in the midst of the grieving process, this time can be very stressful and leave unnecessary burdens on your loved ones – whether it’s the details of your funeral service, burial or cremation choices, or how your estate should be divided.

This is a trying time for all families. So how can you make it easier?

Pre-Planning Your Funeral: A Gift to Your Family

Planning your funeral before you pass takes the guesswork out of your choices for your family. They won’t argue over where you would have wanted to be buried, what songs you would want played, or even how much money to spend.

By preplanning your funeral, you are taking the responsibility of coordinating all these logistics off the shoulders of your loved ones. While they are trying to come to terms with their loss, having a plan allows them to focus on the path to healing.

Although it takes some courage to begin the conversation with family, pre-planning allows you the opportunity to talk with your spouse or children about key topics like finances, life support and advanced medical directives, and the distribution of property.  Planning ahead will take away the stress of having to make these decisions while mourning.

Here’s a helpful guidebook on pre-planning your funeral from Tharp Funeral Home.

Pre-Funding Options

Funerals options can vary widely in price.  If left for your family to choose your services they might “emotionally overspend” and select services or merchandise that are more extravagant than you would have wanted.

By prefunding your arrangements when you pre-plan, you remove the fiscal burden from your loved ones and lock in the prices for your services so your family will not have to pay anymore for them in the future

There are many funding methods available to you when you pre-plan. Here are some options to consider:

• Prepayment in full with check or credit card
• Prefunding through insurance
• Trust Funds
• No Interest payment plans spread over several years

A Conversation with a Funeral Director

Set up an appointment with a local funeral director and ask them about your pre-planning options. Funeral directors are trained and very familiar with all of the components that go into a funeral service and they can walk you through each step of the process. At Tharp Funeral Home & Crematory, we believe that preplanning should be a smooth, stress-free experience.  You will never be pressured to spend more than you wanted and, when pre-planning, you can take as long as you like to consider your options. You can setup an appointment at one of our four locations, or we can come to your home. Set up an appointment with Tharp Funeral Home today.  Give your family the gift of preplanning and give yourself the gift of PEACE OF MIND!