A large part of your estate plan will concern what happens to your assets when you are dead and buried. Yet what happens if you do not want to be dead and buried at all?
There are several ways to hold a funeral, and more and more people are choosing cremation instead of burial. It is cheaper and takes up less space. Yet, if the last five generations of your family are buried in the same plot in the same small town churchyard, how can you keep your body out of it?
You can pre-arrange your funeral
You can create a document as part of your estate plan that sets out what should and should not happen at your funeral. It is especially wise if some of your family has different religious or personal views from you.
You can do everything from choosing what songs they should play through to where the event or any subsequent scattering of ashes should take place. It saves your family from thinking about these things when they are struggling to cope with your loss. It also avoids arguments about what you would have wanted.
You can also pay for the funeral up front
Insurance policies are available to cover funerals, or you could set money aside in a particular account. Include the details as part of your document. If you do not make any financial arrangement, the funds would typically come from your estate.
Estate plans can cover a lot of things, making your life and that of your family simpler. With help to understand the full scope of options, you can make a plan that is right for you.