Needless to say, most people don't want to linger over thoughts of their death, nor the death of a loved one.  Unless someone is dealing with a terminal illness, planning their own funeral wouldn't cross their mind.  More times than not, families are left with making difficult decisions during an even more difficult time.  A time when such emotions as grief, guilt, anxiety, anger and depression can lead to poor choices, family squabbling or the inabiltiy to make decisions at all.  Having the foresight to discuss your wishes with family members as well as making the financial arrangements ahead of time, will relieve a lot of unnecessary stress for the survivors.

     Jim Hellen has been in the mortuary business for 38 years.  His experiences have proven that the best "gift" you could ever give your family is to pre-plan your funeral arrangements.  Unless there are specifics laid, the decisions have to be made by surviving family members, who may not agree on anything.  If the closest survivors of the deceased are their children, it is the law that they all agree on funeral arrangements.  There have been cases where funerals were postponed for weeks while siblings fought over funeral homes, cost, etc.  It is easy for survivors to want the "very best" for their loved ones remains and over spend on every detail. In many cases, guilt prohibits the survivors to make wise financial choices. This can lead to resentment and further hardships.  Hellen stresses the importance of providing guidelines and suggests three easy steps in pre-planning a funeral.

1.  Treatment of the remains. This would be the choices of burial         
                              (above or below ground), cremation, organ
                               donation, etc...

2.  Specifics for the service.  This may include where the service is to
                                be held, what clothes the deceased would
                                like to be wearing, what music to be played, etc.

3.  Financial Arrangements.  This could be funeral insurance, pre-paid funeral
                            costs, personal money set aside, etc.

   These are just a few of the possible details that may or may not need to be addressed.  Every individual has their own ideas of how they would like their funeral or services to be.  Whether it be simple or extravagant, making those decisions ahead of time and making those close to you aware of them, will insure that the deceased gets what they wanted and the survivors have the peace of mind knowing their loved one's wishes were carried out.