What are the benefits to advanced planning?
There are many benefits to advanced planning for yourself or a loved one. • Thoughtful preparation offers peace of mind not only to the one making the plans but also to those left behind. • As a practical gesture, it allows you to make unhurried, informed decisions, compelling you to organize important documents your survivors need later. • At the time of a death, the funeral home needs vital statistical information to complete the death certificate and write the newspaper obituary. Easy to compile ahead of time, it can be difficult to locate after a death. The information that some survivors struggle with is the mother’s maiden name, ancestry, years of education, military service information, and work history, just to mention a few. • Another advantage of advanced planning is the option of prepaying the funeral expenses. This may ease the financial pressures put on a family at the time of a death. To determine how much money is necessary to fund a funeral, the funeral home first deter
