4 Steps to Organizing End-of-Life Documents
Organizing your end-of-life documents in a thorough manner allows your final wishes to be handled in a way that suits you, without creating a burden for your family.
Following these four steps will help you with logistical issues that may come with funeral planning, passing on wealth and honoring laws and regulations.
Keep Your Will Updated and Accessible
The creation of your will is a very important part of handling your final wishes, and it is also important that it remains updated through any life or wealth changes. You can update your will as often as you would like. The most recently filed draft is the one that will be honored at the time of your passing.
Be sure that your estate lawyer has the most recent copy of your will. Name an executor that can be trusted to set the process in motion, and make sure that they know how to get in touch with your attorney. The executor will also need to get a copy of your death certificate, to settle matters with the bank and to receive your life insurance payouts.
Preplan Your Funeral Arrangements
Funeral costs can be a burden to your family when you do not plan ahead. Rather than simply set aside a lump sum of money to handle your funeral arrangements, work with our funeral home to preplan.
With funeral preplanning, you’ll not only decide how much money will be spent; you’ll make provisions for how it is spent. This takes the guesswork out of whether you would like cremation or burial, what type of service, the casket or urn you would prefer, the music you want to be played at the service and many more critical decisions. Having to work through these in a time of grief will only add stress to your loved ones.
Suzette Yost, who helps families prearrange their services, explains that “On our website, we have a place to request “A Helpful Guide for My Loved Ones.” This document helps to keep vital funeral planning information all in one place.”
“The guide gives families a place to start,” Yost said. “After a funeral has taken place people understand how important preplanning is, whether they did or did not preplan.”
Take it a step further by visiting our funeral home to explore your options to help you make decisions on memorial service type, caskets, etc. If funeral costs are allocated in your life insurance policy, you can bring the policy to the funeral home to have on file when arrangements need to be made.
Make Your Financial Matters Plain
When organizing documents, be sure that all of your banking and investment information is clearly laid out. Set aside paperwork dealing with bank accounts, 401k’s, RIA’s, stock market investments, pensions and other matters that may be passed along.
If you have not done so already, contact each financial institution and set up a benefactor. This way, they won’t have to wait for the execution of the will to have funds or custody of the account transferred. Clearly outlining such matters also keeps peace in the family during a difficult time.
Set Aside Important Documents For Safe Keeping
There are countless loose ends to tie up when a person passes that a will and life insurance might not cover. Setting aside key documents and instructions will guide your loved ones on how to proceed.
Open a safe deposit box and store important documents inside. Things like car titles, investment paperwork and property deeds can be stored in this box, to be retrieved by a family member. You can also digitize these documents and include them on a flash drive or in the cloud.
In addition to maintaining a safe deposit box that your loved ones can access, forward copies of these documents to your attorney whenever possible. The easier you make the roadmap for your loved ones to follow, the easier they’ll be able to execute your affairs.
Following these four steps will lessen your family’s burden of decision-making and help them handle matters as smoothly as possible, during what will be a difficult time.
When you’re planning services and arrangements for a loved one, the options and choices may be overwhelming. At Bohlender Funeral Chapel, our team is here to help guide you through this difficult time with quality, compassionate services, and individualized attention. If you’re considering cremation in your end-of-life plans or for a loved one, here are four reasons our team recommends this option.
When it comes to funeral services and memorial services, many people have questions that are difficult to ask. At Bohlender Funeral Chapel, our team is here to assist families and individuals through the death of a loved one with compassionate, informative services. Here are four common questions our team receives about cremation services.
Different cultures around the world deal with death in different ways. Many choose to have a cremation or burial ceremony just like in the U.S., however, there are some funeral ceremonies that are drastically different than what people in the U.S. are accustomed to. In today’s blog here at Bohlender Funeral Chapel in Fort Collins, we talk about other beautiful funeral ceremony traditions and where they are popular. Learn more about our funeral home services here at Bohlender Funeral Chapelin Fort Collins and get help planning the perfect celebration of life for your loved one. New Orleans Jazz Funerals You might be thinking, “Well, New Orleans is in the U.S.!” — and you’re right. But, that doesn’t mean that they can’t have unique funeral ceremony traditions. Not everyone in New Orleans has a jazz funeral, but anyone can request one if they’d like. However, most jazz funerals are held for musicians. In a traditional jazz funeral, the funeral ceremony begins at the church or funeral home and is then led to the cemetery by a marching band. The music starts off slow and heavy while everyone is walking to the cemetery. Once the body is buried and people are on the way back from the cemetery, the music becomes upbeat and celebratory to honor and celebrate the departed. Anyone and everyone nearby are encouraged to join as long as they are respectful and courteous. Eternal Reefs Eternal Reefs is a Florida-based company that has taken a completely new approach to funerals. Eternal Reefs takes cremated remains and places them in an environmentally safe concrete urn. The urn is created in such a way that it creates new habitats for marine wildlife. This makes it so that you or your loved one become a part of a coral reef and help to support new life. Eternal Reefs are a great way to commemorate your loved one and help them make the world a better place. Even though there are no oceans or coral reefs here in Fort Collins, that doesn’t stop our family at Bohlender Funeral Chapelfrom offering a funeral ceremony that is beneficial for the family and the earth. We are proud to offer our green burial funeral service, learn more about it here at Bohlender Funeral Chapel. Burial Beads In certain areas of the world, there is very limited space for burials and other traditional funeral ceremony practices. One method that South Korea has been practicing regularly is the burial bead funeral ceremony. With burial beads, cremated remains are pressed into beautiful beads that closely resemble that of jewelry or pearls. A wide variety of colors and urn options are available. This is a way for the people of South Korea to find beauty from a difficult situation while also making use of the limited space. The Philippines All across the Philippines, funeral ceremonies vary wildly. There are more than nine very different funeral traditions across the country. Some of the more poetic and beautiful traditions include tree burials and hanging coffins. Tree Burials Tree burials are most commonly practiced in the Cavite region of the Philippines. Cavite is located about 10 miles from the bustling Manila and they have still managed to maintain their unique funeral ceremony customs. Tree burials are where the person who expects their time is limited will go and select the tree of their choice. Once the tree is selected and the person’s days are numbered, a small shelter is built near the tree for them to live in. When they pass, they are entombed upright into the selected tree. Hanging Coffin In the Sagada region of the Philippines, coffins are often hung off the sides of cliffs or on the walls of high-up caves. The elderly or sick craft their own caskets by hand if they are able and once they have moved on, they are placed in the casket they created and hung high. They are placed next to their ancestors and loved ones as high off the ground as possible. This is because the native people believe that the higher the dead are to heaven, the easier their journey will be. This is a tradition that has been performed for thousands for years and will likely continue for years to come. Fantasy Coffins Ghana is a country in Africa where people have taken to a funeral ceremony called fantasy coffins. Fantasy coffins are unique coffins that help to represent who the person was in their life. For example, someone who was a fisherman their whole life may choose to be buried in a fish coffin. Or someone who had a love for books and novels may choose to be buried in a book-shaped coffin. These are fun and lighthearted ways to memorialize and celebrate the life of the dearly departed.  We hope that you learned something new and got valuable insight into other culture’s funeral ceremony customs. If you would like to learn more about the funeral services we offer here at Bohlender Funeral Chapel in Fort Collins, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We are a family-owned funeral home with a passion for helping people in any way we can. We offer invaluable healing experiences for you and your family through our cremation service, burial service, funeral flowers, and much more.
Planning a funeral can be overwhelming, especially when it comes to budgeting for the various expenses involved. At Bohlender Funeral Chapel in Fort Collins, we understand the importance of honoring a loved one while managing financial responsibilities. Let us help you navigate the funeral planning process, ensuring you can create a meaningful celebration that respects your loved one’s memory without stretching your finances. Then start the pre-planning process with us today.
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