Of all the funerals, cremations and burials that take place in this country every year, nearly two thirds of these estimated 2.3 million deaths will be planned, arranged and ultimately paid for by women, by default because she is the surviving member of the marriage.
- Women currently outlive men.
So when a funeral is about to take place, it is usually a woman who must walk through this agonizing series of events, navigate the myriad of decisions, well over 120 in the first 24 hours, and keep her wits about her.
- It is not unusual for a recent widow to have to write a check or authorize the spending of $6,000 to $10,000 in a matter of an hour or two.
Funeral Pre Planning
Will Saves from Emotional Trauma
It doesn’t have to cost a dime to create a complete final arrangements plan and it can be done without all the emotional stress, but rather in a logical, cost effective yet dignified manner for all concerned.
All the couple need to do is take the time to find out some key answers, talk about the subject and write out some kind of preplanning ideas, a lot of emotional trauma can be spared.
Without some knowledge of what the final arrangements process is, many women or widow will be at the mercy of whomever it is she called to help her make these arrangements. The solution is simple; do a funeral pre planning.
1) Start with a
Funeral Planning Checklist
There are some general topics that at least would give women a basic knowledge base, so that they won’t be completely naive when they are called upon to actually coordinate this event. What needs to be decided at least in broad strokes are the following:
- Know where key documents are located. These include wills, trusts, bank accounts, military records, deeds, mortgages, insurance, etc.
- Do you want to be cremated, buried, entombed, etc.
- What kind of funeral do you each want?
- How much should be spent.
- Where do you want to be buried or scattered if that is your choice.
- Where will the money come from for whatever you are deciding to do?
- Do you have a particular Funeral Home in mind?
- Should you purchase some things in advance, such as; cemetery property, funeral services, caskets, etc.
2) Do More Reasearch
These are just the rudimentary parts, to begin the thinking, about the final arrangements’ planning process. You could call or visit a funeral home or cemetery and often get booklets that lay out many of the things you need to jot down.
