Funeral Planning: Important Considerations

One of the ironies of estate planning is that, after going to great lengths to create specific, thorough instructions regarding the disposition of their assets, many people provide little or no direction concerning the disposition of their remains.

That’s too bad. Just as a well-conceived estate plan can eliminate legal and financial stress in the months following your death, a simple statement of your funeral wishes can lighten your family’s emotional stress when the pain of losing you is at its peak.

A funeral plan can also:

• help ensure that your beliefs and values are honored;
• specify your wishes regarding the disposition of your remains and the type of memorial service you desire;
• allow you to designate the person who should manage your funeral arrangements (it might not be your personal representative or trustee);
• if you wish, provide for pre-funding your funeral and burial/cremation costs; and
• be made available in advance to everyone who needs to know.

You should discuss your wishes with your family members and other people who are important to you. If you change your mind about any aspect of your plan, you can revisit it at any time.

PLANNING OPTIONS

Burial vs. Cremation. When choosing between the two most common methods of disposing of one’s remains, you might be guided by any number of factors, including:

• religious beliefs: some denominations do not permit cremation, a few require it, and most are accepting of it;
• family tradition: you might wish to be buried at the same cemetery where your family members’ remains are interred;
• respect for your remains: some people view cremation as a form of desecration;
• closure: an open casket can be a comfort to friends and family who were not present at the time of death;
• cost: cremation is significantly less expensive than burial, which typically entails the costs of the casket, embalming, the burial itself, and cemetery plot, and, if there is to be an open-casket funeral, preparing the body for viewing; and
• portability: cremation allows for remains to be stored in a small urn, which can be retained by a loved one or placed in a columbarium niche.

Type of Service. Your funeral or memorial service can be a reflection of your beliefs, values, and how you wish to be remembered. Common types of service include:

• a traditional faith-based funeral, held at your church or a funeral home;
• if you are to be buried, an open- or closed-casket viewing or funeral service;
• if you are a military veteran or a member of a fraternal organization, a service that includes a related rite or ceremony; or
• a less formal remembrance ceremony or celebration of life, which can be held nearly anywhere and with any degree of formality.

Arrangements. Depending on the type of service, your funeral planning can include a wide variety of arrangements, such as:

• funeral home, mortician, or crematorium (you should spare your loved ones the ordeal of shopping for a mortuary at a difficult time);
• who should write your obituary, and where it should appear;
• public or private ceremony;
• location;
• alternatives to floral arrangements (e.g., memorial contributions to a church, charity, or cause);
• who should be invited;
• who should speak, and whether speakers should be limited to selected persons or anyone in attendance; and
• if you are to be buried, how you are to be dressed, who will serve as pallbearers, and what should appear on your headstone or grave marker.

Financial Considerations. Depending on the type of memorial service and the disposition of your remains, the cost can be in the tens of thousands of dollars. How and when you intend to pay for your funeral is a major planning consideration.

Your options include:

• pre-paying for your funeral, via a plan offered by your mortuary;
• purchasing a life insurance policy with a death benefit that will cover the anticipated funeral costs;
• creating an investment account earmarked for funeral expenses; and
• having your personal representative or trustee pay for your funeral from your estate.

A 2024 Wall Street Journal article, “Plan Your Own Funeral, Just Don’t Pay for It Now” (subscription required), offers an in-depth look at funeral planning and some useful cautions about your payment options.

GOVERNMENT REGULATION

The Arizona Department of Health Services’ “Consumer Guide to Arizona Funerals Information” is a valuable resource.

Also, a recent Nolo.com article, “Burial and Cremation Laws in Arizona,” contains several helpful insights, including these:

• A casket is not required for burial (but the cemetery may have certain rules).
• Caskets are not required for cremation.
• You do not have to buy a casket from the funeral home (if you prefer, you can buy one online, or you can build your own).
• There are no Arizona laws that prohibit burial on private property (but local governments might have rules governing burials, and the location of the cemetery must be filed with the county recorder's office).
• Arizona law is silent as to where you may keep or scatter ashes.
• You should check both city and county regulations and zoning rules before scattering ashes on local public land, such as a city park.

As for federal rules and restrictions:

• Officially, you should request permission before scattering ashes on federal land.
• While many national parks allow scattering ashes, each park has its own rules, and some have affirmatively suspended permitting the scattering of human cremated remains.
• The Clean Water Act requires that cremated remains be scattered at least three nautical miles from land.
• If the container won't easily decompose, you must dispose of it separately.
• The EPA doesn't permit scattering at beaches or in wading pools by the sea.
• You must notify the EPA within 30 days of scattering ashes at sea.