4 Reasons You Should Already Be Planning Your Funeral

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All 2020 curveballs aside, the question of, “what will happen when I die?” has been coming up a lot lately. My mom is almost 70 and that combined with the fact that I’m in my late 30s, has me realizing that I’m not going to be 20-something forever. In one of my online business groups, someone asked about the plans others have in place should something happen to them… and I realized that I have zero plans! Actually, I’ve been getting a lot of hints this year that I’d better start planning for the future. And if you’re a parent, you should too, no matter your age. Here are 4 reasons you should pre-plan your funeral.

This post was sponsored by Skylawn and some photos are courtesy of Skylawn. All opinions are my own.

I dove right into my own planning research and found Skylawn, a local Bay Area one-stop location for all things after-life planning that offers a Free Funeral Planning Guide. I signed up for the guide via their website and got it in the mail about a week later and discovered a lot of ways planning is so important.

grandma and granddaughter with ice cream cones — *GG with my oldest when she was younger*

Less stress on family

Something could happen to me or you at any time. If I were to die tomorrow, my husband wouldn’t know what to do. I have hundreds of passwords and info all over the place — my family wouldn’t know where to start or what to do with my website, how to cancel my subscriptions, what bills are due when, who to notify about my death … or any of the logistics, really. Would your family know what to do?

When my last living grandma died a few years ago, she didn’t have any plans other than the wish to be buried in Nova Scotia where she grew up. Her first husband’s ashes were scattered somewhere by his second wife, and grandma’s second and third husbands both joined their late wives after they died, leaving my grandma without a solid burial plan. Luckily, her younger brother and his wife offered to add my grandma’s ashes to their burial plot! Their proper planning allowed for my family to fly out to Canada, meet family we’d only ever heard of and give my grandma a proper goodbye. It was still a lot to figure out how to get my grandma’s remains to Canada at the time, but having that piece of the puzzle was huge. Imagine if it was all set up in advance!

TIP: You’ll want to get Skylawn’s Funeral Planning Guide, fill it out, and keep it somewhere that only family can find it. By filling out the guide, your family will know what to do should something happen to you without worrying if they’re doing the right thing.

Big money Savings

If I were to die when my kids are older, I wouldn’t want them to have to stress about how to afford my cremation and funeral services, or figuring out who will handle what task, either. By pre-planning now, I can freeze my rate and avoid any price increases/inflation that happens between now and when I die. This allows for a set cost to save for or pay off in advance so that there aren’t any surprise costs for family members when they’re already trying to figure things out with the loss of a loved one.

family at GG memorial — *Remembering my grandma with local family before traveling to Canada*

Less stress on you

I don’t know about you, but I also don’t want to have to worry about what happens to me after I die. I want the relief of having a plan in place. I want to be sure that my remains are treated with respect and that my wishes are carried out. That the people who I want to be notified of my death so they can attend a funeral or memorial (in person or virtually, now that Skylawn offers that) are notified. That info about where my will is and what it states is listened to. That how I want my funeral service to be and what I want to be done with my remains to be followed, too! By planning it all out in advance, I can have the peace of mind that my wishes will be a reality. I also can take my time working out some of the details and make changes to my wishes a lot easier.

You get first pick

Another benefit of planning in advance? Picking your spot before someone else does! I used to think I would want my ashes scattered, but after seeing the unbelievable views of the Pacific Ocean and the greater Bay Area that Skylawn offers from the tops of the Montara Mountain Range my mind is changed. It’s also very Fung Shui, which really is the kind of place I would want to be buried at — somewhere so peaceful & beautiful that my family looks forward to visiting me! A place that gives me the best views and offerings.

You truly wouldn’t think that Skylawn is a funeral home, memorial park, and crematory by looking at it! When I first saw it, the main building set against the views looked like a vacation lodge.