How thinking about your funeral wishes in advance can strengthen family harmony at a difficult time
Starting a conversation around your funeral wishes is undoubtedly hard but opening up a conversation early can help your family understand how you would wish your funeral to be. Not only can this insight be extremely helpful to those who mean so much to you, but it can help to strengthen family bonds and ties at such an emotionally difficult time.
The enormity of a death brings a great deal of upheaval and sadness to all those involved. Families not only have to cope with the planning of funeral arrangements but will also be tasked with the difficult job of informing friends and family, managing probate, and other administrative duties too. In the mix is the weight of bereavement and taking time to get adjusted to life without your loved one. If even the simplest conversation has been had in advance, your family will thank you for helping them to make the process easier.
Record your funeral wishes for smoother funeral planning
Often it is the first time a family will have had to arrange a funeral. Numerous decisions will need to be considered from the type of funeral desired, choosing a burial or a cremation, the type of coffin, choice of flowers and music, whether there might be a charitable donation, and if a family member might write and deliver a eulogy.
Having a clear plan also helps you think through what you feel comfortable with and what is appropriate and reflective as a celebration of life of the person who has died. This will include choosing a funeral director who you trust to deliver everything you wish for with the upmost compassion and care.
Using our Funeral Wishes form to easily document your funeral wishes
We know that sometimes it can feel too hard to talk to a funeral director ahead of time. We understand that this does feel unnatural for many, although in some circumstances we do recommend it. If you would prefer to manage things yourself, we are committed to helping guide you where we can and have produced a comprehensive Funeral Wishes form that takes you through the five steps to answering some key questions around planning your funeral.
These are the areas that we cover:
- The Funeral in General
- Prior to the day of the Funeral
- The Day of the Funeral
- The Ceremony
- After the Funeral
How to record your funeral wishes?
It is an easy process to download the form and follow the steps. This will help to give you peace of mind that your wishes are detailed and recorded. Once you have completed it, you can hand it to your chosen funeral director to keep hold of for when the time comes. You can also circulate it amongst close family or you may prefer to just store it somewhere safe and notify your next of kin of where it is for later reference.
For more information and a full guide on recording your funeral wishes and the benefits, see our recent guide.
