It’s something no one wants to talk about. I just finished making arrangements with our funeral home for my Dad. He wanted to make things easier for me. I thought I would put together a final wishes checklist, so you can talk it over with your family and learn what their final wishes are, it will make everything a little easier in the end.
You Never Know What Will Happen
My son passed away when he was 24. It was one of the worst things I’ve ever had to do in my life was to pick out things for my baby’s funeral. Dad was with me and watched me fall to the ground in the casket room. Because I didn’t want to put him in the ground, I didn’t want to buy a cheap outer container for the casket. No mother should ever have to purchase those things for their children.
Talking things over with your family is important. Decide who will care for your children if something should happen to you and put it in writing. Make a planner and keep it updated, with important information about your life. You never know when your health might get bad enough that you need some help paying your bills from your accounts. That’s why is super important to Keep passwords and logins for bank accounts written down as it can be a lifesaver for a family member down the road.
Here’s A Final Wishes Checklist:
Here is a list of things I thought of and talked about at the funeral home. Some I’d never even thought to ask about. Like how long did he want the funeral to last, where do you want to be buried? What about being cremated. That was a big fat…No! Big funeral for my Daddy, go big or go home he said. Lol!
- Who will be the person in charge of your funeral?
- Who can you count on to help out with things?
- Did you make arrangements ahead of time?
- What do you want your funeral to be like?
- Do you want a funeral or just a day of celebration?
- Will you have a church service as well?
- Who will you call to do your hair?
- Will you be buried in a casket or cremated?
- What picture do you need for the funeral?
- Who will put some pictures together, around 30-100?
- What will you wear? What jewelry will you keep on?
- Are you a veteran? Do you want a military funeral?
- Are you a member of a church or organization, will you want them to perform?
- What about pallbearers, you will need 6 to 8 names and contact information.
- Who will take care of your pets after you are gone?
- Where do you want to be buried? Or your ashes placed?
- Do you have a living will?
- You’ll need your Social Security number and Life Insurance Policies.
During our meeting with the director of the funeral home, we found out that Dad can get a plaque stone as a grave marker from the military because he’s a veteran. He wanted to have them come to the gravesite. I’m glad we had a chance to talk all this over and find out what his last wishes are, we were able to make arrangements with the funeral home.
Nothing is set in stone, we are free to change anything we like later on. But we did all the hard parts taken care of, so when the time comes, it won’t be so overwhelming. I hope you enjoyed this post about talking things over with your family about your Final Wishes Checklist. It sure helped me and my family. I hope it helps yours as well.
You Might Like My Final Wishes Estate Planner Printable!
I also created a Final Wishes Estate Planner that I printed and filled out with Dad. So much information that I had no idea about. Insurance policies, where all his important papers are located, passwords, and logins to websites for his financial stuff. I’m grateful for that planner. I’m going to print one out for me, to keep track of my important information.
