Your Step-by-Step Pre-Planning Guide

This checklist helps you gather and record important details to make future arrangements easier for everyone.

Remember...

There’s no need to make all the decisions right away. For personalized assistance in creating your plan, contact one of our experts to schedule a one-on-one meeting.

Ways to Plan Ahead:

General



• Gather personal information for your obituary.
• Choose a charity to direct donations to, if desired.
• Choose a funeral home.
• Make note of any instructions for your services and final disposition.

Funeral Service

• Choose burial or cremation.
• Select a casket or cremation container.
• Choose locations and types of services.
• Choose floral arrangements.
• Select which photographs and memorabilia you’d like to display.
• Consider any customs, traditions, or religious rites that are important to you and your family.
• Choose the clothing you’d like to be dressed in.
• Select music and hymns, if desired.
• Choose a theme for decorations and stationery at your services.
• Arrange transportation for your physical remains and your family.

Participants

• Choose a clergy member or officiator to preside over the service.
• Select any musicians whose talents you’d like to employ.
• Select pallbearers.
• Choose friends or family members to perform the eulogy, read scripture, or prepare a speech.

Final Disposition

• Choose a cemetery.
• Select a burial plot or mausoleum.
• Select a memorial or grave marker and inscription.
• Decide who will keep your urn.
• Decide who will scatter your ashes and where.

Information You'll Need