One of the most challenging parts of losing a loved one is planning for their funeral. The grieving process can make every small task seem even more overwhelming.
The funeral process doesn’t have to be as complicated as it may seem. Once you choose a Funeral Home you feel you can trust, the rest should fall right into place. A great Funeral Home should be able to help you with continuing a healthy grieving process and memories of the funeral service you can peacefully look back on. These steps may seem daunting but knowing what to expect ahead of time will help families shed light on the process of planning a funeral.
Step 1: Consult with your loved ones
Not every family sits down and talks about their wishes for when they pass. If you are one of the families that do, this will make the planning process a lot smoother! This is a topic that should be brought up with family, but unfortunately if this is a conversation you’ve never had with your family, you are not alone. The first thing that needs to happen to establish what your loved one that passed away would have wanted. Although some may never talk about death, you could remember them making comments like “ I never want to be cremated” or “ I want to be buried next to my mother”. It could also be according to their religious beliefs. Once a decision has been made, Establish who is will be the Next of Kin will be amongst the family. That person will be listed on the death certificate and important documents, but it doesn’t mean that person has to do everything alone. Also take the time to gather potential paperwork that will be needed such as Wills, IDs, Social Security Number, Life Insurance, Veterans DD214 form, etc.
Step 2: Contact a Funeral Home
Make the necessary calls to the Funeral Home who can provide wanted services. If you are on a specific budget, you may want to call funeral homes ahead of time to get a feel of the differences in prices. However, it is best to go with a funeral home who makes you feel comfortable and you can trust. It will make the process a lot smoother. The Funeral Home will initiate the necessary paperwork to go forward with the funeral services. Funeral Directors will seek possession of the human remains from the place of death.
Step 3: Plan an Arrangement
Once you pick a Funeral Home, everything else should fall into place. Funeral Directors are tasked with planning a funeral from A-Z. They should be taking care of everything and alleviate a lot of stress that comes with planning from you. They will organize everything from viewing services to scheduling with the cemetery or crematory. The Funeral Director will discuss services and prices offered to the family. Things that can potentially be offered during an arrangement (depending on the services you choose) are the type of casket needed, clothing, memorial cards, clothing, urns, location of cemetery or crematory, memorial programs, limousines for the family, and flowers. Once the family chooses the services and items needed and dates for the services are decided, the rest is up to the funeral director to arrange.
Step 4: Finalizing the services
After sitting down with a Funeral Home and planning, you should now be able to spend time with your family and receive the support you need from each other during the grieving process. If you chose an open casket viewing, it might be helpful to request to come to the funeral home one hour early to have some time to pay your respects with your loved one before everyone arrives. This is something most funeral homes offer to the immediate family. It can be overwhelming to have to greet so many people during a funeral service and the one hour before everything arrives you have for yourself is essential. Depending on the state, death certificates should be provided to the family within 5–7 business days. This is an important document needed by the family in order to file paperwork with your state in regards to your loved ones passing.
This step by step process will help shed some light on the typical process of making a funeral arrangement. We hope it can guide you in this difficult process.
If you or a loved one are in need of funeral services, feel free to make an arrangement on our platform TrueBonds and we’ll promise the best services a Funeral Home will offer.
