Pre-Planning
| Ten Freedoms For Creating Meaningful Funeral Ceremoniesby Alan Wolfelt PhD Center for Loss and Life Transition Ft. Collins, Colo. 1. You have the freedom to make use of ritual. 2. You have the freedom to plan a funeral that will meet the unique needs of your family. 3. You have the freedom to ask friends and family members to be involved in the funeral. 4. You have the freedom to view the body before and during the funeral. 5. You have the freedom to embrace your pain during the funeral. 6. You have the freedom to plan a funeral that will reflect your spirituality. 7. You have the freedom to search for meaning before, during and after the funeral. 8. You have the freedom to make use of memory during the funeral. 9. You have the freedom to be tolerant of your physical and emotional limits. 10. You have the freedom to move toward your grief and heal. |
Pre-planning or pre-arranging a funeral or cremation is usually done for two main reasons.
1. To help your survivors.
- The task of planning a funeral may fall to survivors who have little or no warning and may be unprepared to plan a funeral.
- Discussing your wishes with family is essential as it affects them most directly.
- Funerals are for the living. Leave your requests flexible to allow your survivors to plan a funeral that best meets their emotional needs.
- There are no shortcuts to grief. A meaningful, personalized funeral or memorial service will be an important occasion for the family to share memories and begin the grief process.
2. To pre-fund your funeral.
- Avoids financial expense to family members at time of the funeral.
- A pre-funded funeral plan may be exempt from Medical Assistance asset limitations. Many options are available.
The two most common plans are:
-Irrevocable Bank Trust (Certificate of Deposit)
-Irrevocable Insurance Policy
-Funerals can be partially or fully pre-funded through funeral trusts or life insurance.
Each person’s situation is individual and unique; to determine what options best suit your needs, make an appointment with Mike and/or Robbie to discuss pre-arrangement.
Robbie Smith – Pre-Planning Consultant, Funeral Director. Robbie works with our firm helping families pre-plan and pre-pay their funeral or cremation services and leads the pre-planning seminars we offer at the funeral home each summer. He brings many years of experience and has helped hundreds of families through the pre-planning process. He has been a licensed insurance agent in MN for 6 years. Robbie has been a licensed funeral director for over 20 years. He graduated form the University of MN School of Mortuary Science in 1987 and worked at Evans Nordby Funeral Home in Minneapolis. He also was a representative for a casket manufacturer for 8 years.
Helpful hint: Before you come in for an appointment to make prearrangements, make a list of your questions and concerns. We will go over your questions with you and make sure that each question is answered satisfactorily.