8 Tips For Funeral Planning
If two things are constant in life, it is change and death. While planning for a funeral is something that most people do not look forward to, doing so has its benefits. Not only does early preparation reduce family conflicts and stress, but it also helps save money, and give you time to commemorate the life your loved ones lived.
Tips for Planning a Funeral
If you are at a loss on where to begin, below are eight tips that will help you ease the heavy burden of funeral planning.
1. Seek for a pre-planning funeral advice
For pre-planning funeral advice, it is best to go to a funeral home that has been around for many years. Doing so guarantees that by the time you or your loved ones pass on, the plans you have made for funeral will be followed until you or your loved ones are laid to rest.
The risk of going to a new funeral home is that they could go out of business, which would mean that your pre-planned funeral might be decided by your next kin instead.
2. Plan for the future
Before you or a family member dies, create a will and testament, trusts, advance instructions, and funeral plans with your family, so they are aware of your wishes. This way, conflicts about who will manage what will be avoided, and family assets are entrusted to the right people.
3. Body disposal
There are four ways on how to dispose of one’s body:
- Burial – Burial requires a cemetery plot where you will bury the body, a casket where the body will lay rest, and a memorial marker to determine who is in the grave.
- Cremation – Depending on location, cremation is often cheaper than a burial, because you do not have to buy for a plot where you can bury the body. The urn where the ashes of your loved ones will be placed can be put anywhere you or your loved ones wish.
- Donating the body to science – Donating your body to science can save you funeral costs, and at the same time, it can serve as your last contribution to the world because you get to help doctors and scientists with their scientific research.
- Burial at the sea – If you are a veteran, sea burial is also an option for body disposal.
4. Renting saves money
Renting a casket is possible, especially if you are to be cremated but still want to have a viewing.
5. Ask for funeral-planning guidance from memorial parks in the Philippines
Depending on the funeral service you want to have, seeking guidance, comparing, and contrasting prices will help you with your finances later on.
6. Questions to ask memorial parks in the Philippines
It will be helpful to ask questions that will make you understand how the process of cremation will work.
- What is the chain of custody to follow from death to casket or urn?
- Do you cross-check paperwork and identity when retrieving the body or delivering it to a third-party crematory? Do you know the crematory’s procedure?
- Do you label the wrist or ankle bands? If so, is a unique ID number provided and will it survive during the cremation process?
7. Limit visitation
Limiting the days of visitation will bring down the cost of funerals. Not only it will lessen the financial burden, but the family left behind would also be able to mourn and start the process of moving on.
8. Spend time with family and friends
Sometimes, the most meaningful funerals cost less. Honoring your loved one’s memory does not mean you have to spend a massive amount of cash just to have a beautiful funeral. As long as you are together on this journey, you can make new memories and move on as a family.
No life is the same as the other. Every person has different passions, milestones, and legacies, and it is up to us, the family our loved one left behind, to tell the world how they were able to leave a mark in this world. By consulting with a funeral planner from reputable memorial parks in the Philippines, will help you how to have an unforgettable memorial service for your loved one – or even your very own if you plan in advance.