Funeral Planning Checklist

If you want to plan ahead for your funeral or your loved one, our Funeral Planning Checklist will help you in making sure nothing is forgotten. Funeral planning can be challenging, but you can use this funeral planning checklist to help guide you.
Many of the arrangements can be planned ahead, which will lessen the burden on those left behind, use this Funeral Planning Checklist when discussing the funeral plan with your loved one, to make sure that your final wishes are carried out and that nothing is overlooked.
FOR EASIER NAVIGATION:
- What To Do Immediately After Death
- Pre-planning A Funeral
- Funeral Planning Checklist
- Things To Do After The Funeral
- Funeral Cost
- Choose A Method Of Payment
WHAT TO DO IMMEDIATELY AFTER DEATH
When a loved one dies, the process of planning the funeral service and getting all the paperwork can be overwhelming, especially for the person left in charge.
Death can be emotional and confusing, making funeral planning difficult. This funeral planning checklist for families will help you during this difficult time.
Death and Funeral Checklist:
- Get legal certification of death. Have the death officially declared by someone in authority like a doctor, nursing facility, emergency medical technician, hospice nurse, coroner, or medical examiner.
- Arrange for organ donation if the deceased has a prior instruction for organ donation.
- Search the person’s documents to check for any written instructions for the body disposition, funeral plans, and other details.
- Notify the funeral home to arrange for the transportation of the body
- Notify close family and friends who may not be aware of the death. Also, notify the doctor, insurance agents, attorney, accountant, executor of estate, religious, fraternal, and civic organizations.
- Meet with the funeral director handling the funeral
- Handle care of dependents and pets
- Call the deceased’s employer
- Take security precautions. Remove valuable items from the deceased’s house
- Assign a house sitter
PRE-PLANNING A FUNERAL
Planning your funeral in advance can help decrease the burden on those left behind. Share your funeral plan with loved ones to make things go smoothly when it’s time to carry out your final wishes. One of the ways to plan for your funeral in advance is to work with a funeral home.
Once you’ve selected a funeral home, sit down with the funeral director, and discuss the kind of funeral you want to have. The funeral director will help you choose the type of goods and services you need.
Once you have designed your funeral, the funeral director will compute all the expenses and tell you the cost. You can pay your funeral in a lump sum or make payments over a period of time.
Finally, make your wishes known to your family and friends. Here are some ways to let your family know about your final wishes:
- Write a letter explaining your funeral and burial preferences
- Make a voice or video recording that outlines your last wishes
- Ask the funeral home to convey for final plans to your family
- Create a funeral plan and give it to your family.
Do not leave your funeral plan in your legal will document because most people don’t look at the will until after the burial. And by that time, it will be too late.
Put all your important documents in one place and let someone know where they are. Put your will, insurance policies, car title, the deed to your home, your social security card, and other vital documents like birth certificates, marriage certificates, and discharge papers in the same place. Also, include a list of your computer passwords – and update it regularly.
If you’ve made a funeral plan, put it in the same place as your important documents or give it to a loved one or trusted friend beforehand, so there will be no confusion.
Your funeral plan should also include a list of people you want to be notified and their contact information.
FUNERAL PLANNING CHECKLIST
Funeral Planning Guide: How to plan a funeral step by step
1. Choosing a Funeral Home
Use this funeral arrangement checklist to help you plan a funeral for your loved one. Looking for a funeral home will not be difficult if you do it before the need for a funeral arises. You should know the type of funeral service you want before calling a funeral home. If you have no idea, funeral homes will try to sell you an expensive funeral package.
Once you determined what you want, look for funeral homes in your area online. Call the funeral homes to ask for a general price list. Call at least five funeral homes then compare prices. Visit the funeral home and check the facility before deciding on which one you want.
You will also need to decide who will be the primary contact for the funeral home.
Assign which loved ones will need to work with the funeral director to ensure all your last wishes will be carried out. You can choose a family member or someone close to you who will be less emotionally invested and make the decision logically.
2. Arrange for the transportation of the body to the funeral home
- Select clothing for the deceased to wear
- Are you going to use embalming? It is required for an open casket
- Decide on casket or cremation container
- Select a burial vault or cremation urn
- Select a photograph to be displayed
- Select which religious or fraternal items to be displayed
3. Choose the Method of Disposition
Choose the type of disposition you like:
- Donating your body to science (ending in cremation)
- Cremation – traditional cremation or flameless cremation
- Burial – traditional burial or green burial
The next step in pre-planning your funeral is deciding your method of disposition. You can choose between burial or cremation, either choice you can opt for direct burial or cremation with no funeral service.
If you decide to go with burial, you need to choose if you want a traditional or green burial. Traditional burial needs to purchase a casket and vault. Green burial does not require embalming or uses formaldehyde-free products and a biodegradable shroud or coffin.
You may need to purchase an urn if you choose traditional cremation. The urn is not needed if you decide to go with flameless cremation or alkaline hydrolysis.
4. Compose and submit the obituary to selected newspapers
Obituary Checklist
Information needed in the obituary:
- Given name
- Birthday
- Birthplace
- Mother’s maiden name
- Father’s name
- Occupation and employer
- Armed services number
- Those of have proceeded in death
- Survivors and relationship to the deceased
- Schools attended
- Hobbies and interest
5. Choose the type of service, ceremony, memorial, or gathering you like to have and the location
Funeral Checklist for planning a memorial service:
- Do you want a visitation, viewing or wake?
- Do you want wake at home or visitation at the funeral home?
- Do you want a public viewing or private family viewing?
For traditional funeral service:
- Do you want the body present in the service or not?
- Do you want the coffin open or closed?
The Ceremony and Service
- Graveside service or service at the crematory?
- Do you want a religious, spiritual, or end of life celebration?
- Choose clergy or officiator to run the service
- Choose organist or other musical participants
- Choose funeral music and hymns
- Create a memorial video
Choose an officiant to lead the service. If you want the service to be a place of worship, the religious leader will lead the service according to your traditional practices. If you want the service in another location, you can choose whoever you like to lead the service.
Choose the people you want to deliver the eulogies. They can be family members, friends, or the clergy can give eulogies.
Choose the people who will deliver readings or prayers at the service. Select scripture, prayers or literature to be read
Choose songs or music to be played or performed. If they will be playing music, ensure that the venue can accommodate the technology.
6. Decide on the order of events for the service
You can print programs or have the funeral home print programs for you. Funeral programs contain the order of the service, including the names of the participants and any readings or musical pieces to be performed, as well as the copy of the obituary.
Select a memorial register or guestbook and pens
Assign someone to put these out at the service and collect them afterward. The memorial register allows the family to know who attended the funeral. Select memorial folders and acknowledgment cards to be given after the funeral.
If you have a particular charity, you can request guests to make contributions to the charity instead of sending flowers or gifts.
Keep a list of callers, donations, and floral tributes.
7. Choose floral arrangement
Choose the type of floral arrangements you’d like to have at the service. You can purchase the arrangements on your own or through the funeral home.
Common floral arrangements include casket sprays which cover the casket, standing sprays which are displayed on an easel in the form of wreaths, bouquets, crosses, hearts, and other designs; and bouquets in vase or baskets.
Assign someone to remove the flowers from the venue after the service.
8. Organizing Transportation for the Family and the Deceased
- Funeral coach or hearse
- Clergy car
- Pallbearer limousine
- Family limousine
- Flower car
Select pallbearers – Choose pallbearers to carry the casket. If the pallbearer you selected is not physically capable of carrying the weight of the casket, they can be made “honorary pallbearers,” and they can walk beside or behind the casket.
9. Final Resting Place
Cemetery Selection – veterans cemetery, private cemetery, or private property
Choosing a cemetery and plot:
- Select a burial or cremation plot
- Choose a grave marker and inscriptions for the cemetery
Whether you choose burial or cremation, you will have to select your final resting place. If you choose burial, you will need to decide what cemetery you want to be interred with. You can buy a plot in advance.
If you’re going to be cremated, some cemeteries designate areas to bury cremated remains. You may also wish for your ashes to be scattered. Be sure to check the law in your area if they permit ashes scattering.
Apply for a burial permit after you determine the final resting place.
10. Family gathering
Decide if there will be a family gathering, reception, or fellowship meal after the burial. Arrange for food or beverages to be served after the service. Decide if you will need to hire a caterer or family member who will bring the foods.
THINGS TO DO AFTER THE FUNERAL
Funeral Planning Checklist: After the funeral
- Obtain 10-15 copies of death certificates
- Inform your local Social Security Officer of the death
- Call insurance company
- Call possible pension or retirement services to inquire about death benefits
- Order thank you cards for funeral attendees and donations.
Documents to Locate after Death
- Birth certificate
- Will
- Social security card
- Insurance policies (health insurance, life insurance, property insurance)
- Marriage contract/certificate
- Military discharge papers
- Citizenship papers (if appropriate)
- Property deeds
- Automobile tile
- Income tax returns
- Disability claims
- Other documents
Information Needed for the Death Certificate
- Deceased full name
- Date and place of birth
- Social Security number
- Address at the time of death
- Marital status
- Surviving spouse name
- Veteran’s discharge papers (DD-214)
- Mother’s maiden name
- Father’s name
- Place of death
- Highest level of education
- Occupation
FUNERAL COST
The funeral home is required by the law to provide a General Price List of their goods and services. Funeral costs are divided into three categories:
- The basic service fee – includes the use of the funeral home, the funeral director services, funeral home staff, coordination burial arrangements with the cemetery, securing permits and death certificates, and others.
- Optional service fee – includes transporting the body, embalming, funeral home use for viewing, hearse, burial containers, cremation, and interment.
- Other vendors fee – includes flowers, clergy services, pallbearers, obituary notices, musicians, and additional service fees for third-party providers.
CHOOSE A METHOD OF PAYMENT
Figuring out the best way to pay your funeral costs can be the most crucial part of your funeral planning checklist.
There is a way to fund your funeral in advance if you don’t want your family to work with a specific funeral home. It’s called burial insurance or final expense insurance. Prepaying your funeral with burial insurance can easily protect your loved ones from financial burden in the future.
Burial insurance or final expense insurance is whole life insurance designed to cover end-of-life expenses such as funeral costs or outstanding medical bills. You can choose to have $2,000 to $50,000 worth of coverage to pay for your final expenses.
Burial insurance offers affordable monthly payments and works well for people on a fixed budget. Other options include funeral trust, or payable on death account.
If you are paying for funeral services at the time of need, try asking your family members and friends to help pay for different parts of the funeral or contribute money in various ways such as sending flowers or bringing food.
Crowdfunding sites like gofundme.com or youcaring.com can be used to help pay for a loved one’s funeral services if money is tight.
HOW CAN FUNERAL FUNDS HELP ME?
Trying to find a policy if you need a funeral planning checklist to preplan your funeral needn’t be a frustrating process; working with an independent agency like Funeral Funds will make the process easier and quicker.
If you have a health history or pre-existing medical condition, let us help you; we will work with you side by side to find a plan that fits your needs.
We will work with you every step of the way to find the plan that fits your financial requirements and budget. You don’t have to waste your precious time anymore searching for multiple insurance companies because we will do the dirty work for you.
We will shop your case to different insurance carriers and get you the best price.
We work with many A+ rated insurance carriers that specialized in covering high-risk clients like you. We will search all those companies to get the best rate. We will match you up with the best burial insurance company that gives the best rate.
We will assist you in securing the coverage you need at a rate you can afford. So, if you are looking for funeral insurance, or burial insurance, or life insurance to cover your funeral.
Fill out our quote form on this page or call us at 888) 862-9456 and we can give you an accurate quote.
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23 Comments
Sabrina Addams
I loved your tips to make a recording conveying your final wishes, place all your special documents in a certain spot, and let a trusted person know where they are for when you pass. My sweet grandma is getting older and has started talking about her funeral and whom she wants to speak at it. I think it's smart for someone to plan his or her funeral service if he or she is getting older so that it goes respectfully well.
Funeral Funds
Sabrina – We are glad you found our article helpful. You can get a free copy of our Funeral & Estate Planning Guide by visiting this page – https://funeralfunds.com/planning-guide/
Charlotte Fleet
I like that you mention how important it can be to choose which kind of service you would like to have and where you would like it, such as in a church or by the grave itself. My parents are in the middle of their estate planning and have been wondering how to best prepare for their own funerals. I think I should bring up some of these questions with them to help them figure out what they want in terms of funeral service arrangements.
Funeral Funds
Charlotte – We are glad you liked our article. Here is a link to our free Funeral & Estate Planning Guide – https://funeralfunds.com/planning-guide/
Jenna Hunter
My grandma is thinking that she might get sick and go pretty soon because she doesn't have a really good immune system. She would really like to get some help with a burial insurance policy. I liked what you said about how the payments are easy and affordable.
Funeral Funds
Jenna – We wish you and your grandma the best! Let us know if we can help you in the future!
Charlotte Fleet
I like that you mention the importance of choosing what kind of service you want for your funeral along with what kind of ceremony if any such as a religious or spiritual ceremony. My husband's parents were in a car crash recently and it made them realize how short life is, so they are starting to plan for their deaths. I think they should look into choosing the kind of funeral services they would like.
Funeral Funds
Charlotte – None of us knows the day or time we will die. It is important that we protect those who we leave behind. Here is a link if you would like a quote for this coverage – https://funeralfunds.com/free-quote/
Rachel Frampton
My dad passed away two days ago, that's why my siblings and I are currently looking for a funeral home. I'm glad you shared this; we'll make sure to follow your advice about visiting the funeral home and checking its facility before making any final decisions. We'll also keep in mind to decide the order of the program, and have it printed.
Funeral Funds
Rachel – We are sorry to hear of the loss of your father. It is our hope that he had some burial insurance in place so that you don't have to pay for this. We wish you comfort and healing in the coming difficult days and weeks.
Faylinn
You made a very good point when you mentioned that you need to obtain about 15 copies of the death certificates after the funeral. This is something that I had never considered before, but it makes sense, especially if you need to set things in order with companies your loved one used and other associations they had. I will make sure I keep this in mind, especially since none of us knows when we will leave this earth, and personally I would like to lift a weight off my loved ones' shoulders after I pass.
Funeral Funds
Faylinn – Thank you for your comments! We are glad you found our information helpful!
Zachary Tomlinson
Thanks for helping me learn how to plan for a funeral. My friend's special someone passed away recently and he's having a hard time processing everything by himself. I find it interesting to learn that there are different ways to go with disposition. I believe she told him that she'd want to be cremated. I'll share and discuss this with him so he won't need to waste his time looking for a funeral service.
Franklin White
Thanks for explaining how you should look at the deceased person's documents to make sure they had no instructions for their own funeral. Funeral planning seems like it would extremely stressful for the family of the deceased person.
Funeral Funds
Franklin – Thank you for your comments. We have many free end-of-life planning resources on this website for you to view. Our blog and our main menu are a great place to start looking.
Jesse Ford
Thanks for mentioning that the given name and birthday are just some of the essential information for an obituary. My cousin is considering looking for a funeral director to ensure a nice service because his father passed away last week at home after being sick for a long time.
Funeral Funds
Jesse – It was our pleasure to provide this information to you. Make sure and review the rest of the article for additional ideas to write the best obituary.
John
Thank you for providing all the information. This kind of funeral planning in advance can help settle the survivor's life. Advanced death checklist planning promises safe future for the loved one.
Funeral Funds
John – Advance planning is critical in helping your family get through the death of a loved one. You can get a copy of our Funeral & Estate Planning Guide here>>> <a href="https://funeralfunds.com/planning-guide/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">https://funeralfunds.com/planning-guide/</a>
Paula Montgomery
My dad passed away two days ago, which is why we're currently looking for some burial insurance for my husband and myself. My dad taught me that waiting too long to get this insurance is a huge mistake! I'll call you this week to get some quotes.
Funeral Funds
Paula – We look forward to helping you with this!
Bob
I appreciate what you said about checking property deeds. I need to get a funeral planned for my cousin Vinny. I'll have to consider getting an urn for the cremation.
Funeral Funds
Bob – I'm happy you found our information useful. Have a great day!